


The Adventures of an Alternate Dimension

by Anti_Social_Headphones_Kid



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: 2012 boys are honestly just tired, April!2018 is the ultimate big sister, Gen, I love both series so no bashing on either of them pls <3, NO TC/EST, No romantic ships, So be warned, also there's some swearing, tc/est's don't even try touching this with a ten-foot pole, tmnt 2012 crossover with 2018, yes the rise boys come in soon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26166808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anti_Social_Headphones_Kid/pseuds/Anti_Social_Headphones_Kid
Summary: Just a light-hearted crossover fic of 2012 and 2018, because it's what my soul craved...
Relationships: April O'Neil & Raphael (TMNT), April O'Neil & Splinter (TMNT), Donatello & April O'Neil (TMNT), Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & April O'Neil & Raphael (TMNT), Leonardo & April O'Neil (TMNT), Michelangelo & April O'Neil (TMNT)
Comments: 347
Kudos: 989





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I totally saw the idea for someone else meeting the alternate turtles first on tumblr last night, but after I looked for the person who posted it for like, ten minutes, I still couldn't find them, so if you're that person, pls lemme know so I can credit!! It just seemed like a really fun idea asdfghjjhgfdhgf

April wasn't having a great day.

Well, it's not like it was a terrible day either, but one minute she was checking on Draxum in the cafeteria, the next she was suddenly on a random rooftop, at night.

So not only did she somehow lose an entire day at school, but she was also somewhere she didn't know, though, thankfully by the looks of it, she was still in New York, the familiar skyline providing at least some comfort.

Sighing to herself, she took out her phone, which unfortunately was dead. Maybe someone else in her situation would be more concerned, but like her brothers liked to say: she was a weirdness magnet, so there wasn't much out there that could catch her off-guard anymore.

Plus, she knew her way around the city better than most people, so getting home wouldn't be an issue. Walking over to the edge of the building, she looked out on the city, trying to find her bearings, though everything seemed to be slightly off. The normally vibrant city seemed to be darker than normal, which was saying a lot since it was currently night time. 

Though none of this mattered in the end, since either way, she had only one goal right now, and that was to get back to her house. Thankfully the rooftop was connected to the fire escape, providing an easy way down. She had just begun her descent when she spotted four shadows in the corner of her eye. Four very large shadows.

And of course, who else would be running along the rooftops at night, trying to stay in the shadows though still never able to fool her?

She watched as her brothers landed on the roof across the street, staying there. Smiling to herself, she quickly ran across the street to meet them, heading up the stairway, while realizing that Draxum probably sent them for her. Or at least that's what she was hoping it meant, otherwise she was going to have a talk with the sheep-man later.

She was nearly out of breath by the time she reached the top, since climbing down seven sets of stairs, running across the street, only to climb up another five isn't exactly easy, but at least she made it, and thankfully they were still there, though they had yet to notice her, and were instead quietly talking among themselves, which honestly? Was a little weird, but they weren't always observant, and she had  _ totally  _ mastered the skill of sneaking up on them herself.

"Heya guys," she greeted loudly, slightly proud of herself when she was met with looks of surprise, only to find that she wasn't looking at her brothers. 

Or maybe she was? They at least looked like weird knock-off versions of her them. They were mutant turtles, that much she was sure of, and were they wearing the same colour scheme? Yes, but did they look like her brothers? No.

But they also looked like they were about to leave any second now, and there was no way she was letting that happen. Four mutant turtles helping her out was better than no mutant turtles helping.

"Um, sorry bout' that," she apologized quickly. "I thought you were... other giant turtles."

"You come across mutant turtles that often?" the red one asked sarcastically.

"Nah, just my friends. Y' see there's four of them, and they tend to run around on rooftops, so I sorta got you confused for a second."

The blue-clad turtle stepped forward. "Miss, are you sure that they're your friends?"

"Um,  _ yes _ ," she crossed her arms. "And why do you ask?"

"Sorry, no disrespect," he quickly amended. "Just, mutants aren't always the kindest... sometimes it's hard to tell."

"Trust me, I know my way around mutants and Yokai."

"Then why haven't we seen you around before?" the red one questioned.

"I dunno, why haven't I seen you guys either?" She asked, staring right back at him for a moment.

"Wait, you mean there're other mutant turtles out there?" the orange one spoke up excitedly.

"Come on Mikey, if there were other turtle mutants out there, don't you think we would've found them by now?" the purple one asked- and _ holy shit, this wasn't happening. _

"Wait, sorry, I don't mean to be... intrusive or anything, but did you just call him _ 'Mikey'?"  _ She questioned

"Yes?"

"Dude don't give away my secret identity!"

"Mikey, for the last time, we  _ don't _ have secret identities-"

"As in that's his name?" April interrupted. "The turtle wearing orange is named Mikey?" 

"Well actually, my full name is _Michelangelo_ , but-"

_ Oh no.  _ April internally screamed.

"So then... you're Donnie, Raph, and Leo?" she asked, pointing to each turtle in question, only to receive a nod in confirmation. "Draxum, what did you do," she murmured to herself.

"How do you know who we are?" Leo asked in what she would consider an insanely orderly voice for Leo.

"Ok, look," she clapped her hands together. "I'm going to sound sorta crazy here, but I think I'm in the wrong dimension or something, cuz I know you guys, but I don't know  _ you _ guys- you feel me?" Looking between them, she expected to see either confusion or shock, but was met instead with tired indifference. 

"You guys think I'm crazy, don't you?"

The four brothers shared a look for a moment.

"Unfortunately, no," Donnie replied. "We've had a few 'run-in's' with inter-dimensional travel, but don't worry, we can get you back to your universe in no time."

"Really?" she asked, relief washing over her. "Thank you guys so much! I was really worried there for a second."

"No problem. We should probably head back to the lair-"

"WAIT!" Mikey interrupted. "What if she's Kraang? Like that girl who we all thought was normal, and April brought her to the lair and eventing, then BOOM! Kraang."

"Mikey does have a point," Leo murmured.

"I must be in an alternate universe too if Mikey is right about something," Raph added.

"She's fine," Donnie spoke up. "I'm not picking up anything on my scans, so-"

"Aw don't worry it guys! I dunno what a 'Kraang' is, but I'm April O'Neil, so by the sound of it, we're friends here too, huh?"

Though she meant for this statement to be claiming, she was only met with four stares of equal confusion. "What is it?"

"Sorry," Leo finally answered. "Just our April... looks a lot different."

"Yeah, and my brothers look a lot different too," she responded. "Yet here we are."

"You have  _ brothers _ in your dimension?" Mikey asked excitedly. "Do they know about us too? Are they your younger or older brothers?"

"No I- I meant the turtles," she frowned. "But if you're worried about me knowing where you live, I already know you're in the sewers, so there's nothing to hide. Well, I mean, I don't know if  _ you _ guys live there, I'm just sorta assuming since my guys do, y' know?"

"Well, you're right about where we live," Donnie confirmed. "I'll walk you there and get started on the machine to get you home, is that ok?"

April moved to respond, but before she could say a word, Leo replied instead. 

"Right, we'll finish up on the patrol- Donnie, take Raph with you, just in case you find any trouble."

The three nodded in agreement before Leo and Mikey leapt off the roof, disappearing into the night.

"Alright April, are you ready to-"

"Am I dreaming, or did _ Leo _ just tell you guys what to do?" She interrupted.

"The problem is getting him to stop telling us what to do," Raph rolled his eyes.

"Well, yeah, getting Leo to be quiet is pretty close to impossible, but aren't you the leader?"

Raph turned around, suddenly interested in her. "Why? Who's the leader in your world?"

"Raph-um, you- are the leader in my world. Though Leo does come up with good plans, we all do, to be honest."

"That's... interesting," Donnie commented, leading them down the staircase. "So anyway, April, do you know how you got here? Any portals, any Kraang-"

"Any 'Donnie messing up?'" Raph added to his brother's annoyance.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it was Draxum who caused the accident this time. I was at school when he asked me to help him with something, but the minute I walked into the kitchen, I just blacked out and woke up here... it's probably some mystic-alchemy stuff."

"I have... so many questions," Donnie voiced. "But did you say 'mystic'?"

"Yep. Draxum is especially powerful in the whole 'mystic category.'"

"Mystic," he repeated.

"Yeah."

Donnie seemed to consider this for a moment, going quiet as they ascended into the sewers.

"I think you broke him," Raph remarked.

"Do you guys not have the whole 'mystic-mojo' thing going on?"

"Pfft, no... well, Leo has that whole healing thing he does, but I don't even know what the fuck that is. Why? Are we 'magical beings' in your universe."

"Nah, just mutants with really cool weapons that we got from Draxum."

"There's that name again," Donnie cut in. " _ Draxum _ \- who is he?"

"You guys don't have him in your world? Baron Sheep-man? The guy who mutated Splints and created you?"

_ "Splints?"  _ Raph questioned whipping to face her.

"We were created from mutagen," Donnie corrected. "It was from the Kraang."

"Are we just going to ignore that she called Sensei 'Splints'?"

"Yeah, again, I don't know what the Kraang are, but you guys seem to have a lot of problems with them," she replied, ignoring Raph's question.

"You're lucky that you don't have to deal with them," Donnie commented. 

"They're hardly much of a threat anymore, but man are they annoying," Raph added with a wave. "The only person next to them in the annoyance scale would be old shred-head."

"Now  _ him _ we have," April agreed. "Though now I'm starting to wish maybe we had these Kraang people you keep talking about instead of him."

"Trust me, you don't," Donnie promised, turning a corner as they made their way further into the sewer system, a place that April had become all-too-familiar with, though she had to admit that there was some comfort to be found in the old stones, the heavy atmosphere and the rushing of water... or maybe she was just a little desperate to find something similar to her own dimension since the very small and kinda angry-looking Raph was honestly freaking her out a bit.

After that, the three of them lapsed into silence, which was honestly sorta off-putting, though it was obvious that the two turtles were finding this whole situation just as awkward as she was. She found herself wishing that one of the other turtles had been with her when she teleported, Splinter or maybe Sunita - even Draxum would've been great. 

Though overall she was just grateful that she found the turtles... as weird as they might be acting, it was better than being left completely alone in a world she didn't know.

They walked a bit longer in silence until finally, Donnie announced that they had arrived, stepping past a subway entry into what she assumed was this universe's version of the lair. It was... small, a little dark, and she was pretty sure that Mikey probably wasn't an artist in this universe- well, that, or Splinter was stricter here- or maybe both, considering how different they all seemed to be acting, it wouldn't come as a surprise that this Spinter would act a lot different too.

"Raph, do you mind going and telling Sensei what happened while I go and run a few tests on April?" Donnie asked absently as they walked into the space.

"Um, excuse me?" a voice piped up from inside the lair. 

April looked out from behind the turtle to see another teenage girl in the lair, staring expectantly at the turtles.

"Oh! No, not  _ you _ April, her April," Donnie explained to the white girl sitting on the couch...

_ Well ok then. _

"She's you, but from a different universe," Donnie explained as she offered the other girl a wave.

"Nice to meet you," she greeted.

The other April offered her a smile in return, even if it was clear she still had no idea how to react. "Nice to meet you too! Though I should be headed out now, Casey just texted to meet up somewhere."

"Of course he did," Donnie muttered as Raph headed off to find... their Sensei? So Splinter. Only they were calling him Sensei. Eh, sure  _ why not _ . "We need to try and get her back home anyway, so we'll see you later."

"Yep! Good luck," she called out as she left causing Donnie to sigh. 

"Ok, let me show you to my lab- then I'll take a few scans and try to figure out what universe you're from... unless your Donnie already told you what your universe you're from?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm pretty sure he knows what it is, but it's never come up in conversation," she smiled apologetically.

"Figured as much, come on."

She followed him through the lair towards the back, taking in the rest of their home. Despite it being much smaller than what she was used to, it still held a certain sort of familiar charm, one that apparently every home with mutant turtles had. Stepping into Donnie's lab, she was a little taken aback for a moment. 

Catching her gaze, Donnie shrugged sadly. "I know, I know, it's not much, but it gets the job done... and it'd not like we could just add a room to the sewers or something, so-"

"No, not that," she interrupted. "Just... your brothers let you  _ sleep _ in your lab?"

"Yeah, of course- where else am I going to keep my stuff?"

"But... doesn't that make you stay up incredibly late? _ Do you ever even sleep?" _ she asked seriously.

". . . Sometimes?"

"Yeesh Dee, you have unhealthy sleep schedules no matter the dimension, don't you?"

"It's not 'unhealthy,' it's necessary."

"Necessary my ass. Does Raph know about this? Or... Leo, I'm guessing would be the right person to talk to? Or your dad?"

"Please April, it's not a big deal," he brushed off. "Also if you tell any of them about it then I'm not helping you get home," he added on quickly.

She stared at him for a moment, before laughing. "I guess you do have some similarities with my Donnie after all. Now let's start working on getting me back home, and I'll only tell Mikey about your poor sleep schedule, deal?" She offered her hand, which Donnie took after a moment of thought and shook it.

"Deal."

April grinned, knowing that if their Mikey was anything like her own, Donnie would probably still be getting some sleep.

In the meantime, she just wanted to get home and threaten her own brother into getting to the proper amount of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably ooc, but I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you enjoyed reading it!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow ok, I wasn't expecting so many people to actually like this???? I guess y'all were as desperate as I was for a crossover- thank you so much for the support!!!

Donnie had finished running some tests on her and now was waiting for the results, so April decided to check out the rest of the lair, not wanting to get in his way, since she was pretty sure that interrupting any Donnie who was working wasn't a great idea.

She made her way over to the couch that sat in the centre of the room, and flopped down on it, mulling over how weird this whole situation was... then again, things could be worse.

Staring up at the ceiling, she wondered if anyone had noticed she was gone yet- she was sure Draxum noticed, though if he had told the fam yet was a whole different story.

Just then she heard two sets of footsteps approaching, from elsewhere in the lair. Quickly she sat up to see the tiny Raph walking towards her with a giant rat, what the actual fuck-

" _Holy shit_ Splints, you're huge!" she stated before she could stop herself. Because even though she had been pretty chill about most things today- or at least that's what she liked to think- and even though the turtles looked a lot different than what she was used to, she hadn't even considered the fact that Splinter might look different too, let alone be much larger than expected.

But here they were, and here he was, in his giant rat glory. He also looked like a fancy version of Splinter, which was more than a little weird. It was here, at this moment, as she stared at the fancy Splinter and small angry Raph, that she realized how fucking weird this whole situation really was.

Apparently, the other two had their own shock to deal with for a moment, as Splinter awkwardly stood there, looking off-put, while Raph stood wide-eyed, looking between his father and April.

"Well, I admit that wasn't what I was expecting to hear," Splinter finally admitted. "But I'm assuming you must be the other April."

"Um yeah," she laughed sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that, just my Splints is... a lot different."

"Yeah, we sort of guessed that by what you call him," Raph chided, earning him a glare from April who was fighting the urge to die of embarrassment.

"Well, everything's a lot different here, ok? I'd like to see you try and deal with my dimension."

"Oh? The dimension where I'm the _leader?_ Yeah, that sounds like a nightmare."

"Raphael, please," Splinter stopped. "We want to make you feel as welcome here as we can. If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask"

"Aw, thanks, but I'm doing just fine! Donnie will probably have this thing figured out in no time, and I'll be outta your way," she stated confidently.

"Unfortunately, I don't think that'll be the case," Donnie spoke up, entering the room.

"What? Why? Is there a problem with something?"

Frowning, Donnie looked down at the device he was holding with disdain. 

"Yes, and no," he replied after a moment. "I now know what universe you're from, which is two-zero-one-eight, but I can't figure out how you got here, or why. It's really strange, usually there's something connecting all dimensions in some way, but yours seems to be shut off from us, like a one-way door. You're able to get out, but you can't return. It's really quite-"

"I'm sorry, _WHAT_ did you just say?" she demanded, desperation starting to leak through. "That's a joke, right? You're just trying to be the 'funny one,' right?"

"April, I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you, it's all really confusing."

"No, no- so you're saying that I can't go home? I can't see the fam again? But-"

"Donatello," Splinter interrupted. "Is there nothing we can do to help?"

"There's always something we can do Sensei," Donnie replied confidently. "And we won't stop trying until we get her home. If there's a way out of there, there has to be a way back in... it just might take a while to find it."

"But there's hope?" she held her breath.

"There has to be a way to get you back," Donnie repeated, lacking the confidence she had hoped to hear.

"That's right," Leo suddenly spoke up from the lair entrance along with Mikey, apparently back from patrol. "But until then, you can stay with us while Donnie figures things out."

"Thank you guys, it really means a lot."

"What did you think we were going to do?" Mikey asked. "Force you to stay outside? With no warmth, or shelter, or... or _pizza?"_

"True, that would suck," she agreed playfully. 

"We'll set up somewhere for you to sleep in the dojo then," Leo offered, his serious tone still a little off-putting when she tried to attach the name to him.

"Thanks," she repeated quietly, that odd feeling creeping back... well, 'odd' didn't seem to be the right word- lonely, maybe? It was just a little strange to be met with awkward silences and figuring out things that had become so normal back home, like staying over for the night or asking for Donnie's help with something.

But as strange as she might be feeling, she was pretty sure they were feeling it too. 

Leo nodded silently at her thanks, and left along with Splinter to what she assumed was their Dojo. And while she kinda wanted to check it out and see if it was anything like the one back home, she also wasn't dying to spend more time with the calmer Leo, and the fancy Splinter, so she hung back.

Donnie left a few seconds after Leo, promising her that he'd figure it out before heading back to his lab/bedroom, and Raph disappeared to who-knows-where, leaving her with Mikey, who had flopped on the couch beside her.

"Hey, are you hungry?" he asked once everyone was gone.

"For your food? Always."

"Really? You like my cooking?" he got up excitedly, suddenly making her skeptical. But disappointing Mikey- any Mikey- wasn't something she felt like doing.

"Sure, I help my Mikey cook a lot, so we could do it together if you want," she suggested, leaving out the part that Mikey tended to be slightly scary when in the kitchen- maybe this Mikey wouldn't be like that?

* * *

Well, she was right, in a way.

But also completely wrong in another, since this Mikey was absolutely terrifying in the kitchen, but for a whole other set of reasons.

"Are you sure we should be blending that together?" she asked, attempting to hide her horror as Mikey shoved some pizza slices into a blender along with some fruit. Was it a smoothie? Hard to say. 

But seeing as they were almost done, the meal wasn't _that_ bad- just sorta bad. Ok, it looked worse than she ever could've expected, but it had been pretty fun to cook with him so far, so who cared?

"So," she promoted when Mikey paused the blender to check its consistency. "What do you guys do for fun around here?"

He paused for a second in thought before shrugging. "Just sorta whatever. We usually just stay here and chill. Donnie's usually in his lab, and Raph goes out on his own a lot... and then Leo meditates-"

_"Leo meditates?"_

"Yeah, he's really into that sort of thing. Ummm, but besides that, we watch a lot of tv together!"

"That's cool- do you guys have the Jupiter Jim movies here too? Oh! I'd love to see the Lou Jitsu movies of this universe!"

Mikey stared at her oddly for a second before shaking his head. "It must be different here, we don't have either of those- we do have _Space Heroes_ though! Leo has that on pretty much all the time, I'm pretty sure he has it memorized by now."

"Huh, well maybe that's the one thing your Leo and my Leo have in common- they're both super fans of space shows."

"The _'one thing'?_ What's your Leo like then?"

"Hmm... he's just... _different_. I don't really know your Leo that well, and he's probably just stressed with me showing up randomly, and dealing with being a leader and everything, right?"

"I dunno, he seemed pretty chill tonight to me," Mikey state nonchalantly.

"Huh, well, that's good then," she stated, internally wondering in what world that would be considered 'chill,', as she opened the freezer to grab some drinks when she saw some weird cat sculpture sitting there instead. 

"Aw, that's adorable! Did you make this yourself?"

"Make what?"

"The cat sculpture! Y'know, my Mikey is really good at art too," she added.

"That's cool, I always wanted to be good at something! But that's ice cream kitty, she's my pet."

"What? she's-" April looked back inside the freezer to see that is was, in fact, a living creature. Somehow. "Um, ok," she accepted the drinks that the cat offered her before closing the door again, looking back at Mikey.

"That was... _ADORABLE!_ " She exclaimed.

"Right?" Mikey beamed. "She's the best!"

"Dude, you should see my pet! Their name is Mayhem-" she took out her phone, only to see that it was dead. "I'll show you pictures later," she promised, tucking it back inside her jacket, and helping him as he began to set the food on their table... and looking down at what they had prepared, April was starting to wish she had just suggested they order pizza after all.

"So... does Leo do most of the cooking here? Or Maybe Raph?"

"What? Nah, I do most of the cooking," he laughed. "You should've seen it when Leo, Raph, and Donnie tried cooking breakfast. After that, we just all sort of agreed that I should probably be the only one of us who makes stuff- or we just order pizza."

As April looked down at the meal they prepared, she shuddered to think about what it was like when the others cooked. Then again, she wouldn't say that Mikey was a bad cook- everything seemed to be done pretty well, the only problem with it being the terrible food combinations that would've probably had her Mikey fainting in horror.

But either way, it was food, it was edible, and making it together had been pretty fun, even if it was a little awkward. She finished setting up the table as Mikey called in the others.

To her relief, none of them commented on the meal, either because they were used to it, or because they were too tired to do anything about it.

They all sat down, only waiting on Donnie to arrive when an annoying beeping sound rang throughout the lair, the high-pitched alarm becoming nearly unbearable with each passing second.

"Mikey, the oven," Raph finally stated his dripping with annoyance as the beeping continued.

"Dude, I swear that's not my fault."

"I don't care if it's your fault, just turn it off!"

"Sorry," Donnie's voice piped up from behind. "That's actually me."

"Well then, why don't you. Shut. It. Off?" Raph asked bitterly.

"I'm trying- I don't know what's going on," Donnie defended, waving the machine through the air. "It gets louder the closer I get to whatever-it-is I'm picking up."

"Donnie, is something wrong?" Leo asked as the turtle in question started tapping on his device, walking to the area where the beeping seemed to be the loudest.

"I... I don't know, something just caused it to go haywire," he frowned, as he stopped in the area where the noise was starting to become unbearable. "There's nothing here from what I can tell... I'm not sure what it-"

But his sentence was cut short by a sudden flash of blue from above where the turtle was standing, causing all of them to stare up in awe as it grew larger with each second.

"Woah, it's so cool-looking," Mikey whispered as April looked up at the swirling blue, immediately recognizing it.

"Uh, Donnie," she called out. "You might wanna move away from there-"

"Hold on, I need to finish these readings."

"Yeah, but it's-"

She never got to finish her warning, since at that moment, the portal opened, and four turtles dropped out of it and onto Donnie before it disappeared entirely.

"And land safely," Leo- _her_ Leo- shakily groaned from his place atop the pile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> annnnnd- that's it for today!! thanks for reading, and thank you so much to everyone who commented and left kudos!!! thank you so much for the support, and I'll see you soon!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT:
> 
> 2012!turtles- full names
> 
> 2018!teetlez- short names
> 
> I didn't feel like putting in the whole 'naming thing' cuz it turned out really awkward each time I tried writing it, and overall just paused the story.
> 
> I stuck with their normal names cuz they're going to be focused on in pairs for some chapters, and I wanted to still use their nicknames in those, so... yeah
> 
> asdfghjhgfd thanks for reading!!!

Leonardo stared at the four other turtles who had just bombed his younger brother, leaving them in a pile-up of which Donatello was on the bottom. Before anyone could make another move, the portal that had suddenly appeared, disappeared just as suddenly, leaving the room in a shell-shocked state.

"Guys!" the other April exclaimed, rushing up to the new arrivals, causing them to look up at the sound of her voice.

"April!" they shouted in unison, unscrambling quickly enough to meet her half-way with a group hug…? Ok, sure. 

That wasn’t the part that Leonardo was having trouble understanding- it was more to do with how strangely different they looked in comparison to one another, the most offsetting being the turtle who he assumed was Raphael, his size rivalling that of Slash, which was honestly terrifying.

He glanced at his brothers to see if they were seeing what he was, and by the expressions on their faces, they clearly were.

“Dude, you’re so small,” Michelangelo whispered to Raphael with a laugh, though the red-clad turtle was obviously having inner troubles of his own since the youngest got off with only a warning glare.

"Well, that happened," Donatello stated painfully from his place on the floor. Leonardo moved to go help him up, but the other Raph noticed at the same time, stomping over to him.

Leonardo quickened his pace to get there before the huge Raph, but the red-clad turtle reached his brother before he could, so Leonardo silently resigned that this could very well be Donetello's funeral, seeing that it was a pretty likely case that his brother would be the assumed kidnapper for April.

Though to his relief (and surprise), Raph simply helped Donatello to his feet.

"Sorry 'bout that," Raph apologized, offering his hand to the other turtle, which Donatello reluctantly took with thanks.

"It's fine, I really should've moved when April warned- _Raph?"_ Donatello nearly choked, tripping a few steps back, almost falling to the ground again before Raph caught his arm and studied him.

"Woah there- are you ok?" he asked, still holding on to keep Donatello safely standing.

"I'm fine, thanks Raph," Donatello nodded, pulling his arm away, this time taking a few careful steps back until he was at a distance that was deemed 'safe'.

"You know me?" Raph asked, looking towards who Leonardo could only assume was his own version of Donatello. "Uh, Don? You know how you said this might be-"

"An alternate dimension?" Donnie finished. 

"Yeah, call me crazy, but I think you were right."

"Oh really? I never would've guessed," Donnie replied sarcastically, gesturing to Leonardo's own brothers.

“That would explain why they look like that picture you always puts on your conspiracy boards-”

" _OHMEGOSH!_ Dad's so big here!" said the turtle who Leonardo guessed was Mikey, as he ran up to Splinter and just... _hugged_ him. "I always wondered what it'd be like if dad was larger-sized," he stated happily as the surprised Splinter pat his shell awkwardly.

"Mikey," Raph ran towards his brother and pulled him away from Splinter with a nervous but apologetic smile. "Sorry 'bout that pop- er Splinter, _sir?"_

"Do any of you want to try saying Sensei for once?" Raphael asked with exasperation from where he was still standing with Michelangelo.

"Right, um, Sensei," Raph quickly corrected, only to do a quick take back when he realized who had commented.

There was another small gasp from Mikey as he stared Rapheal, then searched the room until he caught sight of Donatello and Leonardo. “You all look like me!” he gushed, moving to line up beside Raphael and Michelangelo. “Guys check it out! We’re all the same kind of turtle! This is so cool! Raph, you're so small..."

" _What did you say?"_

"Dude, it's true," Michelangelo agreed.

"So," Leonardo spoke up from behind, hoping to bring some order to the situation, and slightly annoyed that his counterpart had been doing nothing but watching everyone else with amusement- heck, even Raph seemed to be doing more. "I'm guessing we all know what's going on here then," he stated plainly.

"That is correct," the other Donnie agreed, pushing his brothers to the side and marching over to where Leonardo and Donatello were standing. "And no worries, we'll be out of here in just a second, now that we have April."

"I don't know if that'll be possible," Donatello replied. "Do you really think that I wouldn't have sent her back by now if it was possible? There's something odd with your dimension right now, I can't seem to break through-"

"It's fine," Donnie brushed off. "It's not like we used my tech to get here, even if it would've been safer, easier, and more reliable," he stated bitterly as Leo walked up beside him.

"Dude, don't be bitter just cuz my Odachi is totally _killing it_ today."

"I'm _not_ bitter, I'm just saying-"

"You're always bitter."

"Sorry," Donatello interrupted. "But how did you get here anyway?"

"With this," Leo stated, bringing out his long sword with pride. "It can open mystic portals, and Draxum gave it some extra mystic-y stuff so we could find April and _bam!_ We're here."

Donatello frowned, studying the sword. "Despite it being 'mystic,' _whatever that means_ , my point remains- your world is closed off. I don't see how you'd be able to get back in, 'mystic' energy or not."

"Then just wait and see," Leo grinned, taking a step back and readying his Odachi, before making a few swishing motions. At first, the now-familiar blue light blazed to life, only to disappear in a blink of an eye. Frowning, Leo tried again, only this time, a few sole sparks flew out. "What's going on?" He demanded, trying and failing again.

"I told you, your dimension is closed off."

"Maybe try portaling somewhere here first?" Mikey piped up from where he was now hanging off of Raph's shell- and ok, that was a thing that was happening apparently- so Leo tried again, only to fail.

"What the hell- It's not even working here?"

"It could be because the mystic energy here is different from our own," Donnie stated, bored. _"If only one of us had wanted to use science to get us here instead!..._ It was me, I wanted that. _"_

"We needed to find April as soon as we could," Raph reminded him. "Did you really want to leave her safety to chance?"

"Of course not, but instead we left _all_ of our safety to chance, and now we're here, while our dear father is probably going to be worried sick about us," Donnie countered.

"Alright," Leonardo interrupted since apparently, his counterpart wasn't going to do anything. "By the looks of it, you'll be here a little longer, but you're free to stay with us until we can get you back," he stated shortly.

"I will gladly offer my assistance in returning us home," Donnie offered with a bow before Raph stepped up beside him. 

"We're all going to help... thanks, for letting us stay," he genuinely smiled at Leo, which was honestly a little off-putting.

"No problem..."

The eight turtles stood awkwardly in silence for a moment, unsure what to do next, before Michlagelo thankfully broke the tense atmosphere. 

"We were just about to eat, so if you guys wanted to join us-"

"I'm not sure we made enough for everyone though," April interrupted quickly, casting a glance at her own Mikey. "Why don't we just order some pizza to go with it?"

There were no arguments to be had with this suggestion so Leonardo stepped off to the side, internally debating if they should just set up a place for them to sleep in the living room, or if they'd all be fine in the dojo together when his counterpart casually walked up to him without a word as stood together quietly, watching the other (argue) discuss which toppings they wanted.

Leonardo studied his counterpart from the corner of his eye, hesitant to speak first. Meanwhile, Leo seemed content to lean on his Odachi cooly, relatively a lot calmer than Leonardo despite him being the one in a new dimension. The red stripes on his face gave him an air of intensity whenever Leonardo looked at him, though a closer look caused him to realize that the markings were actually apart of his skin- so they really were different types of turtles then. He found himself wondering if Mikey and Donnie were at least the same type when the other broke the silence.

"So," Leo calmly started, glancing Leonardo's way. "I'm sorta getting the feeling that you're the 'calm one' here, right?"

"If by 'calm,' you mean stressed, then sure."

"Nah, I mean like 'in-charge,' the sensible one, meditation, and all that stuff."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Leonardo admitted. "That pretty much sums me up... you too?"

Leo slowly grinned, making him slightly uncomfortable, but the then just shrugged and looked back out at the others. "Yeah, I can act chill when I want to," Leo finally replied before walking off towards the others again, apparently done with the conversation.

Maybe it was just unsettling to talk to another version of himself, but Leonardo found himself feeling a little bit unsettled after that short encounter, and it didn't help that he couldn't pin why he felt that way. It should've been a friendly conversation, but it hadn't seemed like one. Leo seemed to only want information on that one specific question.

But what would Leo even need with that information? It wasn't as if it was revealing anything important.

Leonardo walked over to his own brothers, who were mostly still there, discluding both Donetellos who had probably gone off to figure out how to get the others back home. Currently, both Mikey's were talking excitably with each other along with April, who the other Mikey had been nearby ever since they arrived, which left the two Raph's in a stare-off with Leo caught in the middle of the tense atmosphere, and needless to say, Leonardo wasn't exactly eager to join them... but he also didn't want to leave Raphael alone with two sort-of strangers, so he joined the trio, only to realize much too late that it wasn't as intense as it was awkward as the now four of them quietly stood around without much to say.

"So," he broke the silence. "Did you decide on what pizza we're getting?" A neutral topic, he assumed.

Raphael nodded in reply. "We figured it'd be best to leave it up to the Mikey's and April."

"That's a good idea... so, who's going to go get it?"

"I'll go," Raphael volunteered a little too quickly, though Leonardo couldn't blame him.

"I can go too," Leo offered, to which Raphael shrugged. 

"Do what you want," he agreed, much to Leonardo's surprise. He had automatically assumed that Raphael wouldn't have wanted a different Leo who might take it upon himself to be a leader... that should've been his first indication that something was off, but he didn't bother to stop and question it.

"Great, I guess everything's fine then," he stated out of lack of anything else to say. "I'll go help Sensei set up the Dojo then."

"Do you want help with that?" the much larger Raph offered. 

"Um, I think-"

"That would be appreciated," Splinter walked up, cutting into their conversation. "Leonardo, why don't you show him where we keep our extra blankets," he suggested.

Silently Leonardo was begging to know why his father had just gone and made what was supposed to be his way to escape an awkward shuffle with a- quite frankly- terrifying Raph, but instead he simply sighed and gestured for Raph to follow him, the buffer noise of the Mikey's talking faded away as they walked deeper into the lair, the air growing tenser by the second until they finally reached their storage closet.

Leonardo opened it and began to collect whatever blankets were there, realizing that they'd be needing all of them and handing them to Raph without a word. Thankfully it wasn't winter yet, otherwise he doubted any of them would be warm enough.

Once he'd cleared out all of the blankets and pillows, he turned back to see Raph absolutely stocked with warm and plush items, involuntarily letting out a short laugh at the sight of his probably much tougher alternate brother stocked up with soft items before stopping himself just as quickly.

"Sorry, let me take some of those," he apologized, grabbing some from the much larger turtle and leading the way to the Dojo.

"Were you laughing at me?" Raph asked, his voice seemingly friendly.

"No. Of course not."

Raph chuckled softly but didn't say anything else as they headed in the Dojo, the larger of the two stopping to take in the place. Leonardo set his pile in the farthest corner of the room before looking at Raph curiously. 

"Is it anything like yours back home?"

"Nah, pretty much every possible space is covered up with Mikey's art," Raph explained. "Everything here is so much different."

"Yeah, I sorta got that feeling."

Walking up to the picture Splinter kept of himself and his first family, Raph paused. "Who's this?"

"Splinter, before he was mutated, his wife, and his daughter Miwa..."

"He had a daughter? And a wife?"

"Yours didn't?"

"No- or at least I'm _pretty sure_ he didn't? He used to be a movie star, so..."

"A movie star? Sorry, I don't think I'm hearing you right- _Master Splinter_ , an _actor_?"

"Hey, we were surprised too," Raph defended. "Though he doesn't act much like your dad at all."

"Makes sense," he agreed as Raph joined him on in the corner of the room, setting down his items as well as he began to help make up the beds.

"Sorry you all have to share the room."

"Nah, we're just grateful you let us stay here. I'm just sorry we came here without really thinking it through- we were just so worried about April, so when Draxum offered to give Leo's sword a power-up..." he sighed. "We probably should've just listened to Donnie, huh?"

"I don't know," Leonardo answered honestly, albeit slightly in defense. "Your Leo was probably just doing what he thought was best for the team."

"Y-yeah, I wasn't blaming Leo for this, I know I was the one who made the decision-"

Leonardo looked up at him in surprise. "Why were you in charge?" he asked abruptly, though admittedly regretting the tone of voice he'd accidentally used.

"Because... I'm the leader?" Raph answered though he sounded unsure.

" _You're_ the leader?" Leonardo repeated, to which Raph nodded.

Then suddenly everything made sense- why Leonardo's counterpart seemed so relaxed, why he hadn't been doing anything, why Raphael had been fine going with Leo, why Raph had been apologizing for his brothers...

"Am I... is _he_ not the leader here?" Raph asked after a moment of silence.

"He's not," Leonardo answered simply. "I am."

Raph looked taken aback for a moment before he shrugged and went back to setting out the beds. "This is really weird," he stated.

"It's beyond weird," Leonardo agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all the support!!! I'm really glad you're enjoying this, thank you so so much for all the kudos and comments!!!
> 
> ahahahaaaaa- I wrote two versions of this chapter- one from April's pov, and one from Leonardo's (also the start of one from Donatello's) I seriously couldn't decide who'd be better to focus the chapter on, cuz April's had family fluff, but Leo's had CONFUSION... and Donnie had pain lmao he needs rest
> 
> ultimately the CONFUSION seemed like more fun lol


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter might seem a bit dull, but well, there had to be exposition somewhere, right??

This wasn't exactly how Donatello though his day would be going, but then again, he had given up on having a normal day a long time ago, that 'long time ago,' being the day he was mutated.

Either way, being with an alternate version of himself was probably one of the more enjoyable things that could happen, since it meant that he had someone else to talk science with.

"So," he started as he pushed aside the curtains to his lab/bedroom, beckoning the other to join him. "This is my lab. I know it's a little small for the two of us, but we should be able to make it work."

The other didn't say anything in reply in favour of taking in his workshop as Donatello quickly pushed aside his older experiments that were yet to be finished, some he doubted, that ever would be done, making some space for the two of them to work.

"you said that you've dealt with dimension traveling before, didn't you?" Donnie asked as he stepped to one side of the room to keep out of the way. 

"Yeah, a few times. And your brothers mentioned you had a photo of us?"

Donnie shrugged. "It was just something I found while researching a different... theory of mine, nothing much."

"you found out that alternate dimensions existed, and you say it's 'not much'?"

"We were occupied with something else at the moment."

"Right, well, I already have a way to teleport you back, the only problem is, we don't know what's disconnecting your dimension from the stream."

"Correct. So then we just need to figure out what's disconnecting us..."

Donatello frowned. "But how did April get here to begin with? The last two times it happened, it was with Kraang tech, but April told us that you don't have them- is that right?"

"Kraang?I haven't heard of them, no."

"And... she came here by accident, not by force?"

Donnie sighed. "Technically, yes, it was due to-"

"Please don't tell me it's that 'mystic' stuff again."

"Unfortunately, it was."

"It seems like your universe is really into that, huh?" he asked, trying to sound positive. "But what even is _'mystic'?_ How do you classify that? I mean, everything's just science with-"

"Please," Donnie stopped, raising his hand. "I don't feel like going there right now... regrettably, I don't even understand it myself."

"Understandable," Donatello threw the last spare metal piece into the corner of his room before sitting on his chair, gesturing to the other turtle that he could sit on the bed. "This would be a lot easier if you'd been sent here for some malicious intent- the answer usually comes by the time we're done defeating the 'bad guys.'"

"Yeah, that would be a lot less stressful, he said sarcastically," Donnie replied.

Donatello blinked at the vocal use of sarcasm, before shaking it off. "Right... well then, at least we have time on our side, though I doubt anyone wants this to last longer than it's needed. Last time this happened, Master Splinter almost went insane after just a few minutes," he laughed. "Though at least you seem a little calmer than the other guys."

"I'll take that as a compliment. So, seeing as you're the expert on dimension-travel, where do we start?"

"We start by figuring out what's blocking your dimension from ours, which... is where I'm lost. It shouldn't be possible, yet we're locked out. It's weird, it's almost like your dimension is hidden from ours, like it doesn't exist!"

"But, sidebar, I've never had any problems looking at your dimension, and we didn't have any trouble travelling here."

"Right... that's why I'm lost."

"Hmm, as unreliable as Mystic things are, my brothers are good at using them- even Leo. The fact that his Odachi isn't working added with how you don't have nearly as much mystic energy here... is it possible that the mystic energy is interfering? Creating a barrier perhaps?"

"That could be possible..."

"It makes sense," Donnie said aloud in thought. "Draxum told us the portals weren't his fault, which is debatable, but if he was telling the truth, then it could explain what's going on."

"But even if that was possible, whatever was keeping your dimension separated would have a hard time with it, which-"

"Which would cause weak spots that open in random intervals, explaining the random appearance of portals in the first place" Donnie finished. "And why we could get out, but why it's harder to get back in."

"Who would even do something like that? Does your Shredder use 'Mystic' energy too?"

The other turtle flinched back at the name, his gaze snapping to Donatello. "You have the Shredder here too?"

"Yeah," Donatello rolled his eyes. "He's a pain in every dimension apparently."

"Apparently," Donnie agreed quietly.

"So, is your Shredder capable of it?"

"I... I don't know. He was travelling between dimensions when we fought him, but I don't think he'd be able to control access to our own when he could barely control himself... and besides, Big Mama has him now, so unless she betrayed us, _again_ , we're probably safe," he assured, his hands moving to adjust the metal armour he was wearing around his shell for some reason as the two of them lapsed into a tense silence.

"Well, I think our Shredder's are incredibly different," Donatello finally replied after a beat. "But that probably won't matter in the end- all we need to do is figure out when the next weak spot will appear, get the teleporter ready, and get everyone through it."

"Sounds good to me."

"Then I guess we'd better get started," he stated, gesturing for the other to join him at his desk.

“Hm? What’s this?”

Donatello turned to look at what the other turtle was holding, jolting as he realized what it was.

“Be careful with that!” he warned, earning him a scoff from the other.

“Trust me, I’m careful with things like this.” He stated as he set the vile down. “What is that stuff anyway?” 

“Sorry, just- it’s retro-mutagen,” Donatello explained. “A shot of that, and you’d be a normal turtle again, which… I don’t think you or your brothers would be happy about.” 

“Yes, you’d be right about that,” Donnie said, taking a quick step back. “Why do you even need that stuff?”

“Well, at first it was for April’s dad,” he explained with a shrug. “But after that, it just kept coming up that we needed it, so now I always have a batch I’m working on.”

Donnie fell silent, looking back towards the retro-mutagen with a sudden tenseness that felt like it would shatter if Donatello so much as moved.

“This could… this could turn Splinter back into a human,” the other finally noted.

Oh. 

_Oh._

“It could, yes.”

“But your Splinter isn’t human again.”

“No, he isn’t,” Donatello agreed, leaning on the side of his desk. “We offered it to him, of course, but he said that his new life was down here, with us.”

Donnie nodded slowly before sighing and walking over to where they were working on the teleporter. “Alright, we should get to work then,” he stated as if none of their previous conversation had happened.

Eh, it was probably for the best anyway. Keeping focused on a task wasn't hard to do, but keeping focused when there was finally somebody he could talk with about... probably _anything,_ while they also didn't have to stress about it being related to the next big villain attack? Well, if it were up to him, he'd much rather just spend the rest of the day talking tech.

Then again, the other Donnie seemed to want out of this whole situation, though perhaps it also had something to do with the consent mentioning of the 'mystic' situation that had him on edge.

Besides that though, the two of them were working seamlessly together, not having to pause and explain whatever they needed help with next. It was like perfection.

Donatello got so caught up in their steady working pace that he hardly noticed the sound of mechanical movement coming from beside him, until he finally turned toward the other to ask a question, only to be astonished by the extra arms that were assisting Donnie from his metal shell backpack-thing.

“That’s genius,” he complimented, finally realizing what it was for. "I'm not sure why I never tried making one of those before! I don't know how many times I wished I could have some extra hands while working."

"Can't you just ask your brothers to help you?" Donnie asked without looking up.

"I did that. Once. Last time I just tried to get Mikey to help, but having him stay still and hold dangerous chemicals?" he shuddered. "I'm just glad no one got seriously hurt."

"Good point," Donnie replied shortly. " But yes, it's helpful."

"But doesn't it get pretty heavy? Why not just it a table-top function?" he suggested. "That way you won't get as tired, and in case of emergency you won't have to pause to take it off before battles."

"It has different uses. Speaking of which, what's this?" Donnie asked, pulling out a large metal... head. Sighing at the sight of his old robot, Donatello couldn't help but look away. 

"Just an old project."

Donnie stared at the robot in his hands with consideration. "Did they turn evil on you too? I found that giving Shelldon free will worked better than trying to have control," he advised. "Even if he does act _completely irresponsible_ sometimes- but that's beside the point."

"Nah- well, sometimes he did... questionable things, but Metalhead always meant well. I just never got around to rebuilding him. Well, not yet anyway."

"I see," Donnie nodded, carefully placing the Metalhead's... well, head, back where he had found it, opening his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

"Hey, nerds," Raphael walked in before either could respond.

"Oh look, It's the small Raph," Donnie deadpanned, causing Donatello to wince. Then again, considering the size of Donnie's own Raph, the other turtle probably saw Raphael as less of a threat, being taller than him and all.

_"Excuse me?"_

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were still in denial."

_"I'm not in_ \- whatever- Leo and I got the pizza, you better come take some before the Mikey's eat in all," he advised before storming out of the room while Donnie grimaced. 

"He went with _my_ Leo?"

Donatello shrugged. "Apparently."

"I don't even want to know what Leo did to make Raphael that upset," Donnie stated, getting up.

"Upset? Raphael's just always like that."

" _Righhhht_. And Leo's the serious one," Donnie stated, seemingly sarcastic, which only served to confuse Donatello more.

"Yes," he agreed. "Your point being?"

"Well," the other paused in thought. " _Apparently_ my point is that our dimensions are incredibly different," the other stated after a moment, leaving the room to join the others as Donatello took a short moment to wonder what the hell the other dimension was like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH GOD THIS CHAPTER WAS HARD TO WRITE BC I AM AN ABSOLUTE IDIOT TRYING TO WRITE SMART CHARACTERS
> 
> Also, there're so many unanswered questions abt the Utroms(Kraang) in rise, and partway through this became a full-on theory post written in dialogue, until I realized that it was way too complicated and unnecessary for the story oof, sorry if the explanation I ended up using seems kinda lame
> 
> Anyways, I know this is a day early, but it's Rise of the tmnt's 2-year anniversary today!!!
> 
> So I'm posting it today to celebrate!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the support and comments so far, it means so much!! <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummmm- did the 2012 boys have internet?? Like, they didn’t even have cable or a streaming service, right? Just old dvd’s… Maybe Donnie set something up for their t-phones? He’d probably set one up just for April, let’s be real

Michelangelo figured he was probably the person least affected by the new arrivals. After all, Leonardo and Raphael had both probably found out about the whole leadership issue in the other dimension by now, and the Donnie's were most likely stressing about getting back home, while he was just free to keep chilling with April and his counterpart.

"Oh! Do you guys have different cooking shows here?" Mikey asked excitedly switching to a new subject like they'd been doing automatically every minute or so. "Do you have any favourite recipes? Do you have any food that exists here that doesn't exist in my dimension?"

"Well, I don't really like cooking shows, so I dunno if it's the same. I usually just cook by whatever I feel, y' know?"

"Definitely," Mikey agreed seriously. "Though, maybe you don't have Ruppert Swaggert in this dimension, since I doubt anyone with a passion for true flavour wouldn't like his show," he stated matter-of-factly.

"He sounds pretty cool."

"He's amazing!  _ Life-changing _ even!" Mikey exclaimed, bouncing to his feet in excitement before turning around with a sigh. "He's also kind of mean sometimes, with trying to eat us and all, but I still respect his work."

"Wait, like he  _ actively  _ tries to kill you?"

"Most of the time. But Raph still idolizes Ghost Bear, so it's not like I'm the only one."

"Yeah, but what about Baxter?" April pointed out.

"That's different- I totally unsubscribed to him!"

"You mean like, Baxter Stockman?" Michelangelo asked.

"Stock _ boy _ ," Mikey corrected. "Is he a famous YouTuber here? Oh, that's it! I can show you _ Condescending Kitchen _ on YouTube! What's the wifi password?"

"I'm not sure if we have normal wifi," he admitted. "Let's just ask Donnie-"

It was then that the three of them realized that they were the only ones there.

"Uh, where'd everybody go?" April asked, looking around.

"They probably went to go pick up the pizza or something," Michelangelo shrugged. "Maybe all four of them went together."

"Well, you're half-right," Leonardo answered, coming out from the Dojo with Raph close behind him. "Raphael and Leo went together, they'll be back soon."

"Wait, hold up-" April stopped. "You sent _ Leo _ with your Raphael? As in the angry version of Raph with our Leo?"

"Yes," Leonardo answered carefully before groaning. "You don't think they're fighting over being the leader, do you?"

"Nah, I don't think Leo's into that," Raph interrupted quietly. "We've never fought about it before, so..."

"Alright then," Leonardo shifted awkwardly. "Then they'll probably be fine. Raphael's probably having the best time ever being in charge of your Leo."

"Well, I dunno," April said. "Our Leo is a bit different if you haven't noticed."

"Yeah, he's a lot calmer."

_ "Calmer?" _ April asked. "I'm not sure if that's how I'd describe him, but ok."

“Well as long as he doesn’t constantly say ‘turtle power,’ then he’s already a step-up from last time,” Leonardo stated tiredly as he joined the others on the couch beside Michelangelo who was slightly relieved that his brother had chosen that seat before Raph did… ok, he was  _ super _ relieved.

That relief was short-lived, however, when he realized that they hadn’t exactly left enough space for Raph as well, hiding the wince as the other approached his own Mikey who was sadly oblivious to what was about to happen.

Michelangelo inwardly sighed as Raph picked up Mikey who hardly seemed to care, only for Raph to... sit back down. And set Mikey back on his lap as if it were completely normal.

_ Okaaaaay.  _

So that was happening.

"Uh, guys?" April questioned. "Is something wrong?"

"What? No, why?" Leonardo quickly answered. 

"You both just randomly got all quiet," she pointed out. " And now you're just weirdly staring at us."

"Well, it could be because Raph is acting super weird here," Michelangelo stated bluntly, shrugging when he saw Leonardo glaring at him. "What? We were all thinking it," he defended.

"Really?" Mikey asked curiously. "What's your Raph like then?"

"Let's just say he's more... intense," Michelangelo explained simply. "A lot more intense."

"We're back!" a voice called from the entrance, startling the five on the couch as Raphael and Leo walked back into the lair, pizza's in tow.

"Jeez, what's with the mood here?" Raphael asked as Leo moved to the kitchen to set their food down. "You all look so intense. Did the Donnie's blow something up?"

"Not that we've heard of," Leonardo assured. "Do you mind calling them?"

"What am I, the errand turtle?"

"But... you volunteered to go get the pizza," Raph pointed out.

"Thanks for the reminder," Raphael said sarcastically before heading to Donatello's room.

"He sorta seemed upset," Mikey noted as Leo returned from the kitchen. "You don't think something bad happened, do you?"

"Nah, everything went well," Leo assured. "We didn't even leave the sewers, we just went, grabbed the pizza, and left."

"Leo, what did you do to him?" Raph asked, sounding strangely like Leonardo when he was especially tired from dealing with Michelangelo's pranks. Only it was Raph. At  _ Leo _ .

"Nothing!" Leo said, raising his hands in defense. "I was completely calm and chill- seriously, I didn't even mention his height- something I'm pretty sure Donnie's gonna mention if he hasn't already- my point being that I'm not the one you should be worried about," he nodded pointedly at where Rapheal was returning from Donatello's room, arguably looking angrier than before.

"See?" he asked as they watched Rapheal head into the kitchen as the two tech turtles walked out of the room they were previously in, Donatello talking quietly with Donnie while the latter typed something into his phone, occupied, but still replying to the other easily enough.

"Donnie... _ s, _ did you find anything?" Leonardo asked as the two of them approached.

"We're working on it," Donatello replied. 

"It's been like, what, an hour?" Donnie remarked at the same time, still scrolling through his phone. "Yes we're amazing, but you can't expect us to have a solid answer with so little time to collect data 'Nardo."

"Um, right," Leonardo agreed while his own counterpart gasped.

"How dare you," he remarked, shaking his head. "And I thought that was my nickname."

"You're the same person," Donnie replied.

"But not the same soul!"

Normally, Michelangelo would've followed Rapheal in the kitchen a long time ago- heck, he would've been there  _ before _ Raphael- but honestly, he was having too much fun watching...  _ whatever _ was happening, so much so that he forgot about actual food, actual pizza for a full minute. 

And that was saying something.

"Boys," Splinter spoke up from the kitchen, causing the alternate turtles all to jump in surprise. "It's time to eat. Our guests are probably tired and in need of a rest."

"Yes Sensei," the three brothers replied, heading towards the kitchen while the other five followed behind, sticking together.

Upon sitting down, though, Michelangelo realized at the same time as the others that they hadn't thought to consider one thing: space. Like Raph alone would probably take up two seats, and that's not even mentioning the other four.

"We should probably sit in the family room," Leonardo finally decided after they had stood around for a moment, to which they all agreed, either due to space, or just because deep down they all wanted to avoid an awkward dinner where they sat around and stared at each other, all of them incredibly tired.

To be fair, it was still pretty crowded in the family room, but at least this way they could all have a little more space, be it on the floor, or the couch.

Michelangelo took a seat on the floor, not wanting to have to fight anyone on a seat, and flicked through a few different movies before settling on Space Heroes, turning to explain the show to the visitors, only to see Raph being used as a pillow for his three brothers along with April.

He glanced at his brother's to see if they were seeing the same thing as him and judging by their expressions, they were.

"Hey, Raphael," Michelangelo whispered. "Can we-"

"Don't even try it," his older brother warned, causing the orange turtle to snicker. "You'd like, be buried under us if we tried doing that."

"It's almost like you want to be punched," Raphael stated sarcastically as his younger brother stuck out his tongue before settling down again after a warning nudge from Leonardo.

After that, everyone seemed content to sit together, relatively calmly as the episodes played out, until a thick layer of tiredness seemed to grow over the room, signalling that it was probably time for sleep.

"Well, I guess we'll turn in for the night," Raph stated as another episode ended, leaving them in a slighter darker atmosphere as the credits rolled. "It's getting pretty late."

"Aw, dude, come on, it was actually getting good," Leo stated as Raph picked up Mikey gently, the small turtle only barely conscious, slightly mumbling as he was carefully held.

"Yeah, you turn in without me, I'll stay up a little later helping Donatello out," Donnie stated.

"Sounds good to me," Donatello agreed.

"Nope," April disagreed decidedly, shaking her head in disappointment. "I'm almost offended that you thought you could escape me."

"Well, we want to get home as soon as possible, don't we?" Donnie countered. 

"April's right," Raph interrupted. "With the two of you together, you wouldn't sleep. Come' on Don, don't make me carry you."

"I can just sleep when we get back home-"

"Donnie," Raph, April, and now Leo reprimanded in unison.

"Fine, fine, you win," he lamented, getting up from the couch. "You guys can be a real pain, you know that?" he mumbled as he followed the other four to the Dojo/pseudo bedroom.

"Wait," Donatello stopped. "Did you want to store your tech in my room? It'll be safer there."

"I'm fine, thanks," he declined, as Leo hopped up from the couch and followed, the two of them disappearing into the other room where the rest of them were.

"Aw, and what about us?" Michelangelo asked after the door shut and the room went quiet again, rocking back and forth in his seat.

"What about us?" Raphael questioned.

"Why can't we have a sleepover too?"

"Because we're in our own house Mikey," Donatello replied. "With our own beds, that are arguably a lot more comfortable."

"Oh, good point."

"We should get to sleep too," Leonardo instructed, withholding a yawn. "Something tells me that tomorrow will be much longer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAO I’M SORRY NOTHING HAS HAPPENED YET OTHER THAN THEM EATING DINNER WTF WHY CAN’T I WRITE ANYTHING EXCITING XD
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!!!! I'm really glad people are enjoying this, thank you!
> 
> until next timeeeee!! <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was recently mentioned on twitter that box turtles grow attached to their homes, sometimes wandering until they die to try and return, and idk, I think Mikey would have some troubles being in a different world.
> 
> this is a little late, but it’s also a little longer than my normal chapters, soooo that’s why…
> 
> anyways- I hope you enjoy!!!

Mikey stared up at the ceiling, the sounds of his family sleeping providing at least a little comfort from their current situation. 

Turning towards the middle of the room, he kept his gaze on the gentle glow of the candles that Spinter had lit for the night, wondering if it was too early in the morning to leave the dojo.

There weren't any sounds coming from outside, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he just slipped out quickly. 

Kicking off his blankets, he quietly grabbed his mask and got up, heading out of their room into the empty hallways as he tied his mask around his head, the movements as reflexive as breathing by now. He tried to ignore the darker colours that seemed to be the core of this world as he headed into the main room filled with unfamiliar furniture and games that he'd never seen and a stack of DVD's that were all named like knock-off versions of movies from his universe.

It was filled with strange things to him, but he was the stranger himself among them.

Glancing towards the kitchen, his heart lifted a bit- if there was anything that would be the same, no matter the dimension, it was cooking. He walked towards the room with new purpose, hoping they wouldn't mind if he cooked breakfast this morning- though considering what other food there had been to go along with the pizza last night, he figured anything would be a step up from  _ that _ ...

Yeah, he was having serious doubts about his counterpart's skill when it came from the combinations chosen, though it at least seemed well-cooked itself.

Upon opening the fridge, however, he found himself dramatically gasping despite the lack of an audience. There was like, hardly  _ anything _ good to work with- and if anyone knew how to make things work, it was him. No wonder Michelangelo had to resort to weird combinations- this was a  _ nightmare. _

He stood for a second, debating his options. He could easily throw on a disguise and head out to buy some ingredients himself, but he didn't have money, and he didn't know where to go. He could wake up one of his brothers, or one of the alternate ones, but that didn't seem like a good idea, but no breakfast also sounded horrible, so... Maybe April? That seemed like the best option- she had money  _ and _ she was a city-savvy person-

The sound of footsteps in the lair suddenly caught his attention. One of the other nine people in the lair was awake, and whoever it was, was about to be taking him food shopping, like it or not.

Poking his head out from the kitchen, he spied the figure walking towards him, its shape thinner than that of a turtle, meaning it was either April or Splinter who was about to be roped into this.

Turns out, it was neither- it was some random person who had apparently come right out of either a hockey game or a horror movie- then again, Mikey wasn't sure what the April of this universe looked like, so he didn't want to assume and attack, especially when everyone else was asleep.

Thankfully, before he even needed to try and figure out what to do, the figure removed his mask and stared right at him.

"Mikey? What are you doing up? It's like five," he asked. "Are you alright? You look... weird."

"I'm fine," Mikey replied cheerfully, too tired to bother explaining the situation when there were no Donnie's there to help with it. 

That, and also the fact that he didn't know who he was talking to. But he seemed nice, so he was pretty sure it was safe for now.

"So," he began casually, stepping out of the kitchen as the boy flopped down on one of the couches. "What are you doing here this early?"

A good question to ask, he figured, that is unless this random hockey player always came at five am, but the teen seemed incredibly tired as well, so it seemed safe to assume that wasn't the case.

"Eh. My old man wants me to get better grades, so he started waking me up earlier. Usually, when that happens, Raph and I go punch out some thugs before the sun rises, but..." he shrugged, looking at where Mikey assumed Raphael's room was. "I guess that's not happening today. I'd rather get some more sleep anyways, so whatever," he said, flopping back down on the couch.

"Well... I was going to cook breakfast," Mikey said quietly, wondering if this random stranger would be willing to help despite his apparent tiredness.

"Really? Can I stick around and grab some before school?"

"Of course!" Mikey nodded eagerly before hesitating. "The only thing is, they don't really have any good ingredients here, and I can't exactly walk into a store with... this whole situation."

"No problemo- Casey Jones can get the food for ya," the teen- Casey Jones apparently- stated confidently, jumping up from the couch.

"Just get a list of what you need."

"Thanks!" he said happily before realizing he had no clue where any pen or papers were. "Or maybe I can just come with you?"

"Sure, whatever you want. But I thought you just said you couldn't go into the store." 

"Right, just give me a minute."

Casey shrugged, headed towards the exit without checking to see if he was following.

Mikey, on the other hand, hesitated. He didn't know the first thing about this world, besides that he and his family still existed, albeit in a very different way. But Casey seemed trustworthy, and at the very least knew where the lair was, so honestly, he would probably be safe, right?

But there was one extra precaution he could take...

"Yo Mikey, are you coming?" Casey called from where he was standing across the lair.

"Yep, I just need to find some clothes," he stated, hoping to sound like he knew where the hell he was going to look.

"Clothes?"

"Yeah, just- hold on," he rushed back through the lair, trying to remember if he saw anything that would remotely look like clothing before his eyes locked onto a closet in the back of the lair. Heading over without hesitation, he opened the door to what was probably where they had been keeping all their extra blankets and pillows, seeing as it was mostly empty, other than a neat array of traditional robes, clearly belonging to Splinter.

Should he ask before borrowing one? Probably, but he was also in a rush, so he grabbed the first one and put it on- which is something he never would be able to manage with his own father's robes, but this one was large, and actually kinda comfortable- though the size difference was apparent, the sleeves being slightly too long, but it didn't really matter in the end.

Next, he quickly (and quietly) made a stop in the Dojo, grabbing his kusari fundo before heading out to the main room again, where Casey was sitting on the steps to the exit.

"Hey, sorry I took long," he apologized as he attempted not to trip over the robe. "But can I borrow your hockey mask too?"

Casey looked up at him, before suddenly bursting out into laughter. 

"Dude, what the fuck?" he chortled out as Mikey anxiously looked around, hoping that no one would wake up from the sudden laughter.

"It's all I could find, ok?" Mikey defended. "There aren't a lot of clothing choices, it's hard."

"Yeah, clearly," Casey replied, finally getting a grip on his laughter. "Here, you can borrow my hoodie," he offered, grabbing the cloth from his backpack and tossing it to him, along with the mask. "What, are you planning to come into the store with me?"

"Why not?" Mikey asked as he threw off the robe and pulled the hoodie on. "It's not like anyone cares when it's this early out. I can just say it's cosplay if anyone questions it."

"Mmkay. But if Leo gets mad, you're the one who has to explain it to him," Casey stated, leading the way out. 

The familiar sounds and smells of the sewer were the same in this dimension too, but that's where the resemblance seemed to stop- the bricks and concrete were in different tones and the tunnels were different at every turn- it was all wrong.

"Ok, what's up with you?" Casey finally asked. "You haven't said a word this entire time."

"I'm fine," he stated, stepping past Casey to where he could see a ladder, presumably leading out. "I'm just hungry," he added for good measure so Casey would hopefully ignore him- which luckily worked.

_ Thank goodness _ \- he needed to get out of here. The lair had been easier to handle, seeing as it bore no resemblance to their home at all, but something was disturbing about being in a place that was closer to home, but off just slightly.

He climbed the ladder and pushed off the manhole cover, the movement familiar as he stepped out and helped Casey up.

"So... where are we going?" he asked, setting the cover back on the hole.

"To whatever place opens up this early," Casey answered shortly, grabbing his phone and typing a few things in before putting it away again. "This way," he directed, leading them down the street as Mikey followed behind, taking in the mostly-empty sidewalks, and the mute colours that seemed to make everything darker despite it being a pretty well-lit area.

There was something off, much like the sewers, and it was starting to get to him. What would happen if they were stuck here? Would he never be able to see his own New York again?

"Dude, are you sure you're good?" Casey asked again, turning back to look at him, though this time he could only manage a weak nod. 

So much for not making him worry.

"Well, we're here," he stated, stopping outside the windows and looking in. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of people in there, I think it'll be fine for you to come in if you stay low-key."

Opening up the door, Mikey followed him inside. The last time he had gone to a grocery store, it hadn't exactly ended well, but this time they were there to actually  _ shop, _ not just ghost-hunting, and honestly... it was kinda cool.

After mostly getting only online deliveries, being surrounded by so many options and foods was exciting, causing his mind to travel far beyond the fact that he was in a different dimension- after all, if there was one thing that felt like home, more than anything, it was cooking.

Casey had been following him around, patiently allowing him to talk consistently about different recipes, since in the end, Mikey did promise him breakfast.

It was only upon finishing their shopping that Mikey realized he hadn't explained that he wasn't paying for any of this, though Casey seemed to catch on pretty quick. 

"Sorry," he said quietly, clutching the basket to his chest.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Casey brushed off, taking the basket from him. "It's my dad's money. He probably just woulda wasted it... besides, I'll think of a way you can pay me back."

"I can make lunch for you," he offered, which Casey considered for a moment.

"Add in dinner and you got yourself a deal."

"Deal," Mikey agreed, heading off to wait by the door as Casey paid for the food, before the two of them left, quickening their pace a bit on the way back as the streets began to liven up until they were finally able to duck below into the safety of the sewers, just as the sun began to rise.

"So what's your name anyway?" Casey asked as they began their walk back.

"What?"

"I mean, you didn't really think I wouldn't realize you're not Mikey, right?"

"That's true," he laughed weakly, swinging the bags as he walked. "I'm still... me, just from a different dimension, though you'd have to ask Donnie for the specifics."

"Wait- so you are Mikey. Huh, you seem so much... smaller than him."

"What?  _ Excuse me? _ What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly, raising his hands in defense. "So another dimension- does that mean everyone else is here too?"

"Just my brothers and April," he shrugged as the lair entrance came into sight, Casey grabbing his arm quickly before he could enter, and checking his phone quickly.

"It's almost six. Now odds are, no one noticed we were gone since Leo and Splinter wake up at six, but in the odd chance that they're awake, we gotta be quiet- cuz the last thing I want is my Leo, Splinter, or  _ your _ Leo getting mad at us, got it?"

Mikey nodded seriously, and both of them entered the lair quietly, watching for any signs of movement until they finally reached the kitchen.

Sighing with relief, Casey flipped the light switch on as Mikey set down the bags on the counters.

"Up already, huh?"

Mikey flinched as Casey screamed at the new voice, while Leo sipped his tea, hiding his laughter.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Leo asked, nodding to Casey. "He has like, zero chill. Kinda like Foot Recruit."

"Hey, I ain't no part of the Foot. I'm Casey Jones."

"He's friends with the other us', so he took me grocery shopping," Mikey explained. 

"Don't they have food here you could've used?"

"No," Mikey grimaced. "They hardly had anything- they didn't even have any paprika! But it was completely safe... just don't tell Raph, ok?"

Leo shrugged, but nodded, taking another sip of his tea. 

"So... you aren't mad at us?" Casey finally asked as Mikey got started on the food.

"Nah, you guys seem fine- though I am wondering why Mikey is wearing a hockey mask and a black hoodie... dude wait, are you going to have an emo phase?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize I was still wearing these," Mikey took off the mask and threw it to Casey. "It still helped with the disguise though!"

"I'm still surprised that worked."

"It always works," Leo said flippantly as Casey flopped down into one of the chairs at the table, and started talking with Leo, though Mikey just drowned the conversation out- cooking required his full attention, and it was nice to do something familiar in an unfamiliar setting.

It reminded him of home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all: so what about Leo and Raphael?
> 
> Me: *yeets Mikey & Casey content and fucking sprints away*
> 
> I’m sorry…   
> But they will have their own chapter eventually- I’m planning on cramming as many different pairings as I can before this ends


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming to ya a day earlier cuz I skipped last week- sorry 'bout that!
> 
> anywaysss, I hope you enjoy!

It took a few seconds for Raph to remember where he was when he woke up. 

Sleeping over at someone's house was an unfamiliar sensation, but the Dojo created a nice atmosphere, so at least he wasn't struck with the immediate fear that they might've been kidnapped.

What he _did_ realize almost immediately, was that Mikey was gone, which would've been concerning, but seeing as Leo was also gone... wait, why would that be comforting?

Thankfully, at least Donnie seemed to be sleeping.

Raph placed his blanket on Donnie, deciding to leave the softshell to sleep a little bit longer, and headed out of the room. It was another day, and hopefully, it wouldn't be as awkward- though he was getting a strong feeling that Leonardo hated his guts.

Maybe today would be different.

The scent of perfectly cooked eggs filled the lair, meaning one of the Mikey's had been cooking, and upon entering, he saw he was correct, as his own brother at the stove. Seated at the table were the two Leo's, Splinter, and some other kid who apparently just hung out there too.

Admittedly, entering a room without being noticed hadn't ever been one of his stronger suits, so it was expected when they saw him, but he still winced when the kid sitting at the table nearly choked on his drink when he walked in.

"Dude, who was gonna tell me that the other Raph is _huge?"_

And, there it was. He should've been used to it by now, but the way everyone else seemed to be making comments on everything he was doing differently- even just by being a different size- was starting to get on his nerves a bit. 

Hiding a sigh, he sat down at the table beside the still-gaping human, choosing to leave Mikey in his world of cooking.

"So I'm guessing you're friends with us in this dimension?" Raph stated nicely, as neither of the Leo's were engaging in the conversation.

"Yep and man is this weird."

"You're telling me," Leonardo spoke up from where he was pouring tea for Leo and Splinter.

"Well I gotta get going," Casey stated, getting up. "My dad will get mad if he finds out I snuck out."

"Wait! Don't forget your lunch," Mikey called out, tossing him a bag.

"Thanks man- it was cool meeting all of you- and weird, mostly weird, but whatever. I'll see ya around."

"I'll let Rapheal know that you stopped by," Leonardo said as he left the lair.

"I'm surprised he didn't wanna stick around and meet Donnie," Leo stated. "Where is he anyway? I figured he'd be up before me."

"Still sleeping," Raph answered. "I'm pretty sure he pulled a few all-nighters this week- he went out pretty hard last night."

"True," Leo shrugged, taking another sip of tea.

Speaking of Leo, Raph took a moment longer to study his brother's face, noting the dark circles around his eyes. If it wasn't Donnie who wasn't getting enough sleep, it was Leo- it almost made him wonder if that was a twin-thing. And despite not having seen Mikey's face, it would probably reveal that he hadn't slept well either.

"I hope you weren't too uncomfortable last night," Splinter said knowingly, in pity of the tired turtles.

"Oh, no it was great," Raph quickly assured. "Thank you again, for letting us stay here."

"Well, if you stayed somewhere else it might blow our cover," Leonardo stated matter-of-factly. "We couldn't take that chance."

"Right... still, thanks."

Leonardo nodded but didn't say anything in reply, instead opting to take a sip of tea as they lapsed into silence, either from tiredness or awkwardness, until finally, the others came in, sans either Donatello- though by the sound of it they were definitely both awake.

It wasn't long before Raphael, Michelangelo, and April joined them in the kitchen. Raph considered stopping Michelangelo from interrupting Mikey when he was cooking, but he figured they should be fine. Probably.

Thankfully they were, and the sound of Mikey explaining each step was smoothing over the silence that everyone else was contributing to. It seemed like things were possibly reaching a state of normality until Raph heard what was definitely the Donatello's coming towards the kitchen.

Normally Donnie was extra, that's just how he was- but Donnie who had also gotten some actual sleep for once?

That was terrifying.

_"DRAMATIC ENTRANCE!_ " Donnie exclaimed, sliding the room with a flourish as music blasted from his staff, which was now in its disco ball mode. "Congratulate us, for we just solved all of our problems," he announced with a bow. "Mostly."

Admittedly, Raph appreciated his brother's dramatics- even if they were often poorly timed- but when they were well-timed, they could sometimes even hold up to Ghost Bear's dramatic moments, though Donnie's stunts usually did have a more theatre-kid aspect to them.

But again, the timing was important, and this early in the morning it might be a little much, even if he had left out the confetti this time. Thankfully, these guys would be used to Donatello's antics by now, so-

" _WHAT THE FUCK_ -" Rapheal sputtered. "Did Mikey put you up to this?" Raphael demanded, glaring at his own brother. 

"No, but I wish I did," Michelangelo replied, amused. "This is seriously awesome."

"Hm? What's awesome?" Mikey asked, placing their plates on the table.

"Donnie's disco ball, dude! Look at it!"

"Ah yes, it is quite spectacular," Donnie agreed proudly. "In fact, it once managed to scare off one of our greatest foes, true story."

"Yeah, I still don't think that's what happened," Leo stated.

"Well do you have the full story? I am simply going by the facts here: we show up, see evil deeds being done, I bring out my disco ball, and _bam_ , evil is gone."

"He has a point," Mikey agreed. "I wonder if he would still be scared of it?"

"You guys defeated Shredder with a disco ball?" Leonardo cut in skeptically. 

That was a name that Raph had never wanted to hear again.

Suddenly, the lair felt too dark. It felt too much like that night. They were tired, they were worn out, and Raph could only wonder what Leo and Splinter would find when they finally came back- but who even knew if they would? This was Big Mama, they couldn't trust her- that was probably the last time they would all be together, and he didn't even have a moment to think about it.

He had to 'fire up the team,' like Leo always said, but Leo was their morale guy- and Raph hadn't even been able to talk Donnie out of making a headstone on their way over because he didn't want Spinter and Leo to worry about getting one if they were already 'crushed by his imminent death.'

Mikey was trembling- he had already done so much that night, already fought so intensely, and April- she didn't need to be there, she shouldn't be there, she should be at home, studying, or with her school friends, or her parents, but now she was here because they had been stupid enough to let the Foot collect all the dark armour, and now he was back, _the Shredder was back_ -

Raph snapped himself out of his thoughts as he saw Mikey drop one of the dishes he was carrying and caught it before it hit the floor.

"Thanks," Mikey said weakly before sitting down beside him as Raph placed the plate safely on the table. 

Raph placed his hand on Mikey's shoulder, hoping that it would help provide stability before glancing at his other siblings: Leo had brought up his knees to his chest and was sipping tea, hiding as much of his body as possible, April had begun fidgeting with her jacket, eager to avoid eye contact, and Donnie was readjusting the straps on his battleshell, his staff now disco ball-less.

"Sorry," Leonardo apologized, sounding genuine in his apology, but also just genuinely confused. "I didn't mean to offend you- it's just that our Shredder is a little bit harder to take out, with or without a disco ball."

"It wasn't Shredder in that fight," Raph stated abruptly before sighing. "Sorry, we just... don't like mentioning him."

"Hey, not talking about the Shred-head sounds great," Raphael agreed. 

“Well," Donatello spoke up from behind Donnie. "The reason why we came in here, was because we have some good news: we found the piece of equipment that we need.”

“That’s great!” Michelangelo encouraged.

“The bad news is that Stockman took it,” Donatello stated.

“Please, not that kid again,” Leo groaned. 

“What? Is Stockman too much for you guys to handle?” Raphael laughed. “Mikey and I can handle him no problem.”

“Really?” Mikey gasped excitedly. “We can team up?”

“Well, I did mean my Mikey, but it wouldn’t make a difference.”

“Shouldn’t we all go together?” Raph asked nervously. 

“There should be more of us on the mission,” Leonardo agreed. “But all of us going would be unnecessary and ultimately slow us down. Does anyone else want to join them?”

“I'll go” Raph volunteered.

"Well, I was going to go too, so..." Leonardo stated pointedly, avoiding eye contact.

"Isn't four a good number?" Mikey piped up, either blissfully unaware of the awkwardness, or purposely trying to smooth things over after the obvious tension during with Shredder.

"It's ok, I'll stay," Raph quickly stated. "One of the Donnie's should go, right?"

"Well actually, it would be quicker if we could both stay behind to work-"

"No, Raph can come," Leonardo interrupted. "There won't be a problem, we'll leave once it's dark."

* * *

"Ok, Raphael and I will go get the part from Stockman, Raph and Mikey, I need you two- wait, no you don't know the layout of the building," Leonardo reminded himself aloud, pausing in thought as he looked over the map planning out their moves for the night.

They were all spread around the maps on the floor in the family room, as Leonardo drew out some movements.

Mikey had already sent him a few pleading looks as if to ask _"do we seriously have to make a plan?"_ which Raph, unfortunately, had to ignore, even if making plans wasn't how they worked: Leonardo was the leader here, and he wanted to use a plan, and since Leo was usually really good at planning, trusting Leonardo wasn't hard...

Though still, having everything planned out like this was sort of a pain.

"Alright, then the Raphael's can sneak in and take down Stockman. I’m sure Mikey and I can handle the fight," Leonardo finished, looking up at the others. "Mikey, you seem like you're a good fighter, you can handle this, right?"

"Yeah, of course I can! I got the skillz, and the hyper-acrobatics to take any crook down!"

And it was true- Mikey was a skilled fighter, and Raph was confident Leonardo was great as well if his own Leo’s skill was anything to go by. 

Still... 

“Sorry, it’s just...” he trailed off, instantly regretting it as Leonardo turned towards him, looking almost hurt instead of the glare he had expected- but he had already started, so he had to finish. “It’s just that it might be better if you and Mikey go to Stockman, and we fight- I’m not the best at sneaking around, y' know, with being twice your size and all.”

“But I’m good at getting info out of Stockman,” Raphael countered. “It’ll be faster if I just go alone while everyone else covers me.”

“No,” Leonardo shook his head. “It would be foolish to go in alone.”

"But you know I'm good at going solo."

"What I know, is that nearly every time you go solo, something _else_ goes wrong, and you need to be saved."

“I can go with him,” Mikey volunteered. “I know Stockboy pretty well.”

“It's Stockman- and this is an interrogation,” Raphael stated flatly. “Mikey’s a little bit soft for that.”

“Don’t use ‘soft’ as an insult,” Raph sighed. “And Mikey can handle it- he’s a lot more agile and he’s good at sneaking around. I think it’s our best option- but um, it’s up to Leonardo,” he said, turning to the turtle in question, who’s expression was emotionless, almost making Raph feel worse.

“Let’s just get this over with, we’ll go with Raph’s plan.”

“Well it was really all of us-” he deflected as Leonardo walked past him, ignoring his words and disappearing into the kitchen. "I didn't mean to make him upset," Raph stated worriedly. 

"He got mad at his own counterpart last time for trying to lead," Raphael brushed off. "I'm honestly more surprised that he hasn't snapped yet seeing that he's not even the leader in your dimension."

"I'm going to go check on him."

"Trust me, don't- it's best to just let him have some alone time."

"It'll only take a minute, then I'll leave him alone," Raph promised, getting up from the floor and heading into the kitchen where Leonardo was putting on water to boil- boy did that turtle like to drink tea.

It was obvious that Leonardo knew he was there if the way he seemed to tense up was anything to go by, but Raph wasn't someone who liked to let an argument stew for any longer than it was needed, so he stayed.

"Um, hey," he started awkwardly, rolling back on his heels a bit as Leonardo kept his focus on the steaming kettle. "I just wanted to apologize for that back there- I wasn't trying to take over or anything, just-"

"You had a good plan, that's why we went with yours," Leonardo cut off. "A good leader listens to what his team has to say," he stated, though it sounded more like he was repeating someone else's words as a reminder.

"Heh, yeah, I learned that lesson the hard way," Raph laughed sheepishly as Leonardo perked up in curiosity at his words.

"What happened?"

"Eh, Leo and I released a giant mutant mantis cat and kinda ruined Donnie and Mikey's plan- it's a long story."

"I'm... not even sure what to say to that."

"Yeah, it sounds weirder when I say it out loud, but it made sense in context."

"Trust me, we've also had our fair share of weird adventures."

"I believe it."

Leonardo sighed as he turned back towards the kettle, and poured two cups of tea, sliding one over to Raph who took it with thanks.

"Look, I'm sorry too," Leonardo spoke up. "This whole situation is just... strange, stranger than last time- I mean, I get that it was a prank, but Donnie just bursting in like that today was kinda shocking."

"Oh, that wasn't a pr- nevermind. But I honestly don't wanna upset you, I'm so used to leading my brothers, that it just slips out sometimes, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm not mad about you interrupting- you have good suggestions, and you indubitably know your brothers better than I do."

"Leo..." Raph sighed. "You're hiding something."

"What? No I'm not-"

"Every time my Leo says _'indubitably,'_ it means he's hiding something. So spill the beans."

Leonardo stared at him for a moment in surprise before defeat set in.

"I just- I see the way you are with your brothers, and I don't know, it seems a lot easier for you, and I... I can't help but wonder if it would be better for everyone if Rapheal led us instead of me."

"Are you joking?" Raph asked in disbelief. "You are joking, right? You're great at leading them! You make amazing plans and can actually carry them out- which is probably impossible for us to do."

"But the way you lead seems so much smoother... I'm always fighting with Raph, or doubting each move-"

"Hey, my family and I probably have never had a 'smooth' mission before- I don't even think those exist- and of course we're different, I mean, you guys are a lot different, so our relationships are different, but I don't think that's bad."

Leonardo hummed in agreement before looking back up at him. 

“You’re not… mad that I’m the leader here?” Leonardo asked cautiously.

“Mad? Why would I be mad? I’m impressed that you’re able to lead them so well… it sorta makes me wonder if I’m cut out for it,” he laughed half-heartedly. “I mean, Leo always comes up with great plans, and just… knowing you’re the leader here…”

“I was wondering that too,” Leonardo admitted, earning him a hurt expression from Raph before he quickly held up his hands in defense. “I said ‘ _was,’_ as in past tense, but now I can see why you’re the leader- you earned it.”

Raph frowned. “But-”

“You're always looking out for your brothers, you know their strengths and weaknesses, you notice if they're feeling uncomfortable, and they all feel safe around you- or at least that's what I've noticed. You're a good brother, and that makes you a good leader too."

"Wow," Raph laughed awkwardly. "That's... really nice of you to say. Thank you."

"It's the truth," Leonardo shrugged, turning back to the kettle and setting it on the table before grabbing two cups.

“Do you like it?” Leonardo questioned after a moment.

“What?”

“Being the leader, I mean,” Leonardo clarified, looking away. “Do you like it?”

“Oh… I mean, it is what it is,” he shrugged. “Someone’s gotta look out for them, right? And I am the oldest, so it kinda depends on me, y’ know?”

“Yeah,” Leonardo agreed slowly. “Trust me, I know. Even if it’s hard, or if _someone_ always decides to go solo-”

“ _-Especially_ if one of them decides to go solo,” Raph stated. “Not that I don’t trust them, but… I just want to make sure they’re ok. I mean, no matter what-”

“-We’re still brothers, and I’ll always care about them,” Leonardo finished, turning to Raph in surprise. “Even if sometimes they do stupid things,” he added with a soft laugh.

“Oh definitely,” Raph grinned. “Like when they keep eating poison just ‘cuz it tasted good.”

“I’m sorry, you’re joking, right?” 

“Unfortunately not,” Raph sighed. “But they did cure themselves, so it kinda evened out.”

"Once Mikey poured Donnie's chemicals all over himself," Leonardo admitted quietly.

"I... don't even know what to say to that."

"That was a rough day- though it was better than that time when-"

Raph smiled as Leonardo began sharing some stories from their past adventures, and as he shared his own- it was a weird situation that they found themselves in, but for the first time, he was actually starting to really enjoy it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually the second reason why I wanted to write this fic- I think Leonardo and Raph would actually be best friends- and I think both of them deserve a good friendship where they can vent abt being the big bros 
> 
> Asdfghjjhgfds also I dedicate this chapter to the two Leo RP accounts cuz they’re very nice to me for some reason idk but thank you guys ily
> 
> (lmao the main reason why I wrote this fic is kinda obvious cuz of who I paired off for the mission sdfghjkjhgfds y’all know what’s coming)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> R.I.P idk how to write any villains, specifically Stockman, he's just the tech guy W H Y

Raphael was seriously regretting saying that he could take down Stockman with only Mikey's help, since now here he was, with Mikey- and it wasn't even his Mikey.

In all honesty, he was hoping something would've happened with Leonardo and Raph to make one of them ditch the mission so he could get a new partner, but just when he thought that was about to happen, they had suddenly become best friends and spent the rest of the afternoon talking, so...

That had been something he was expecting the least from that situation, and yet it happened, and here they were, standing on a rooftop across the street from where Stockman's lab was as Leonardo went over the plan one more time.

"Raph and I will be waiting out here keeping a lookout- let us know the minute you see any extra forces," Leonardo finished, looking between the two.

"And let us know if you're safe when you get in," Raph added.

"We  _ get it," _ Raphael replied, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice. 

"We'll be fine, there's no need to worry," Mikey agreed. "I've dealt with our Stockboy- I know him the best, remember?"

"It's Stock _ man _ ," Leonardo corrected for what seemed to be the tenth time. "And things are pretty different here."

"It's fine, this is such a basic mission, I could pull it off alone," Raphael reminded, following Mikey to the edge of the roof before he was held back by Raph.

“Just… please make sure Mikey’s safe ok?” he stated, looking genuinely worried.

“You think that I won’t be able to keep him safe?" Raphael scoffed, brushing his hand off his shoulder. "Besides, it’s not like we’re kids, he can handle himself.”

“I know just- he’s still only thirteen,” Raph interrupted, as his face hardened, "he's a good fighter, but still..."

"I'm sorry, hold up," Raphael stopped. "He's thirteen?  _ What the fuck _ , don't tell me you're thirteen too?"

"What? No, I'm fifteen," Raph answered, clearly confused. "How old are you guys?"

"We're all sixteen- y' know what, I don't have time to think about you and your weird universe."

"Just please... keep him safe," Raph replied, giving Raphael a moment of pause as he looked back at Mikey who was waiting at the edge of the roof before nodding.

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” he promised, heading off towards the smaller and apparently younger version of his brother. Shit, this Mikey was barely a teenager- he was just a kid- and looking at him now, it was incredibly obvious, why hadn't he noticed before?

But this also resulted in another problem: how  _ the fuck _ was he supposed to treat kids? 

Back when he was thirteen, his brothers were too, but he'd never had to deal with someone younger than him who also wasn't an actual infant. So... what was he supposed to do? Michelangelo already seemed so soft, but this Mikey was probably even that much softer.

And if he was being completely honest, Raphael was afraid of making the other Raph angry, and he knew he couldn't take him in a fight, so if Mikey got hurt? That blame would go on him- and Raphael knew firsthand how he'd react if someone hurt his brothers, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

So he kept a close eye on the other turtle as they leapt across the buildings. The kid definitely had skill- he had to give him that much- so at least he didn't have to worry when it came to crossing the rooftops. He instead focused on his own movements, keeping to the shadows, and keeping silent until they finally reached the other building.

Raphael came to a stop atop the roof, and walked to the edge where he could give Leonardo the signal over the busy streets when his shell suddenly felt ten-times heavier- which, to be fair, he could totally handle- but not when it was so suddenly thrown on him like that... which resulted in him falling to the floor almost immediately.

It just so happened that the ‘thing' to latch itself onto his shell was Mikey, who let out a short shriek as they fell.

“Mikey _ I swear- _ ” he warned as he got up off the other turtle.

“Sorry! I forgot that you weren’t as big as my Raph for a second!”

“How do you forget someone’s size?” he snapped. “You were looking right at me!”

“It was the red,” Mikey shrugged, though Raphael didn’t miss when he stepped a little farther away from him, towards the edge of the roof, looking down over the city. Great, he had scared the thirteen-year-old Mikey- that didn’t make him feel horrible at all.

“Everything’s so much darker here,” the smaller turtle quietly commented, bringing him out of his thoughts as Rapeal turned his attention to the city below them as well.

“Dark? The whole thing is lit up- what, is your New York daytime all the time?”

“No,” Mikey frowned thoughtfully. “I dunno how to describe it… it just feels like someone put a filter over it, or like it’s cloudy. You can still see everything fine, and it’s almost the same, but it just always feels… off.”

“Yeah, other dimensions can be weird,” he agreed. “Trust me, this isn’t the weirdest one you could’ve been sent to.”

"I doesn't make this one any less weird," Mikey sighed, looking down to the street as Raphael gave the signal to the others.

"Alright, let's get inside," Raphael directed, tugging on Mikey's shell. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner you get to go home."

Mikey followed him without another word, following as Raphael led the way to one of the building's skylights, and wedged it open before slipping through. He landed without a sound, and stepped to the side, waiting for the younger turtle to join him- thankfully he didn't have to worry about Mikey's sneaking skills either, since he followed after just as quietly. 

Upon landing, he watched as Mikey paused and looked around the messy building that looked like a mix between if Donatello had enough money to invest in a lab, and Michelangelo's room- so it was a disaster, but a Donnie-themed disaster.

"This is... different," Mikey whispered, looking confused.

"And what were you expecting?"

"A grocery store, maybe."

Raphael stared at him for a moment as he considered this, before deciding he had no clue what to say. It was said so seriously that he was almost certain it wasn't a joke, but also what kind of supervillain made their lair in a grocery store?

It would probably just be better to ignore it in this case, so instead, he just pulled Mikey to the wall, before leading the walk around the large factory-like room, until his eyes landed on the man (bug) that they were here for, who was currently sitting at his desk on one side on the room.

"Is that him?" Mikey nudged, pointing towards Baxter.

"Yes, and _ shh!" _

"And why aren't we just going down there and grabbing him? There's no one else here!"

"We just need to make sure," Raphael stated, barely keeping calm. He could've easily done this alone, but  _ nooooooo. _ Now he was stuck babysitting and double-checking everything because if he made just one mistake and Mikey got hurt, he'd be answering to two angry older brothers instead of just one.

"At this rate, they'll find us before we ever get a chance to do anything," Mikey pointed out.

"Listen- I'm the one leading us, ok? You seem to listen to your Raph just fine, but now  _ I'm _ calling the shots, so just-" he sighed. Taking out his anger on Mikey wasn't about to make this easier. "Just follow me, I have a plan." 

"What is up with you guys and 'planning'?" Mikey mumbled, still following. "The plans never even seem to work out."

"Oh yeah? And what do you suggest?"

"Total chaos," he grinned.

"Right... I don't know what I was expecting from a- nevermind. Let's just keep moving."

"Raph, why are we going in a circle?" Mikey asked after a moment.

"We're scouting to make sure it isn't dangerous, because if you get hurt,  _ I  _ get  _ killed, _ ok?"

Mikey stopped short. "Why am  _ I _ the reason?"

And geez, if he didn't know Mikey better, Raphael could've sworn the younger turtle was angry right now. 

Swallowing his annoyance, Raphael turned back to him. "Because you're the youngest here, ok? Your Raph told me to watch out for you, and quite frankly? I don't want to deal with him getting mad at me, so we're playing this safe."

"I knew it," Mikey huffed, crossing his arms. "Raph still doesn't trust me." 

Oh man, did he just stumble onto a sensitive subject? What was he supposed to do,  _ comfort him?  _

"Dude, Mikey-"

"Ok," the other turtle cut him off brightly, the sudden shift in tone off-putting, even for Mikey. "If you want to protect me, then go right ahead.  _ I'll _ be doing our actual mission," he stated casually, heading to the edge of the platform.

"What? Mikey don't-"

But it was too late. Mikey had already leaped off the platform, swinging his kusari fundo, and for a moment Raphael could've sworn it looked like a small flame- though he couldn't dwell on it for very long since he could already feel himself dying from stress.

"Surprise!" Mikey called, swinging the weapon around Stockman who let out a cry of shock.

"I've caught you...  _ Oh... _ you're a bug?" Mikey questioned, looking up at where Raphael was still standing, having a hard to process what just happened. "Hey, Raph? Is he supposed to be a bug? Or is this just one of his robots?"

"Let me go, you miserable turtle," Baxter hissed out.

"Mikey what the hell!" Raphael yelled, finally dropping to the main floor where he was holding Stockman hostage. "Are you  _ stupid? _ Do you want to get killed?"

"What I  _ want _ ," Mikey fought back. "Is to get home. Besides, I have him captured. If it were up to you, we would've just circled around for an hour."

"Fine," he relented. "Good work- I'll take it from here."

At least now they were at the part that should be easy- he got to interrogate Stockman solo while Mikey stood watch. Simple, quick, and they'd be done before the other two had any time to worry.

Glancing back at Mikey, he wondered just how far he could go without scaring the kid any further. Whatever, it didn't matter, not so long as they got what the Donnie's needed to send these guys back to their dimension.

"Alright flyboy, let's make this easy for the both of us," Raphael stated, pulling out his T-Phone and showing him the picture of the whatever-it-was metal thingamajig that Donnie wanted. "Y' see this? My brainiac brother and his weird clone  _ really _ want to get their hands on it, so I volunteered to come pick it up from you- now be a good fly, and show us where it is, ok?"

Stockman was usually desperate to do anything to protect himself, it was easy to get stuff from him. But apparently, the whole world wanted to fuck with Raphael tonight, since the fly only buzzed out a laugh.

"Anddddd you expectttt me to just hand ovvver such a unique piece of tech like thatttt?"

"Well, you are currently tied up, so I don't see much of an option. But, of course, if you don't feel like talking, Mikey here can keep you tied up all night while I tear down this place, brick by brick, and look for it. "

"Don'ttttt bother- It's locked where you'll never find it," Baxter buzzed proudly. "You don'ttt think thatttt I'm stupid enough to keep itttt somewhere ittt could be easily stttolen, do you?"

"I'll admit, I kinda did. I also thought you'd be smart enough to realize that you're not in a position to be acting quite so confident, seeing that we could make any sort of 'accident' happen."

"You havvvvve no idea control ovvver me, turttttle, I know you're all tttto weak tttto torture me. There'sss nothing you could ddddo that's worssse than the Shredder."

"Wanna bet?" Raphael grinned before remembering the fact that Mikey was thirteen and probably not mentally scarred yet- and watching him torture someone? That might be scarring. "Just give us the part, and we'll be on our way, ok?"

"Shredder will sssend reinforcementssss, you won'tttt have me for longgg."

"Yeah sure, you tell yourself that," he rolled his eyes, walking back over to Mikey.

"What's going on?" the smaller turtle asked, as Raphael sighed. 

"He's making stupid claims that he has backup on the way," he explained, trying to sound nonchalant. 

"Do you think he was serious?"

"I doubt it, Shredder doesn't care about him-" his T-Phone buzzed, interrupting the rest of his sentence. Leonardo. 

_ Of course. _

"Raph, seriously, what's taking so long in there?"

"Nothing! It's fine- Stockman is just- ugh, _ it's fine!" _ he repeated, ending the call. “I swear, I'm going to kill this bug,” Raph grumbled, looking back at where Mikey was still holding Stockman secure with his kusari fundo.

"Is everything ok?" he asked genuinely.

"It's fine. Let's just get this stupid bug to confess where he has the part."

“Maybe… is it ok if I talk to him? After all, I’m Dr. Delicate touch,” Michelangelo assured him confidently.

Raph studied him for a moment. Mikey was younger than his own brother, and in a way, he got the feeling that this kid was probably more emotional than Michelangelo. He had noticed the way his brothers seemed to be protective of him, and Michelangelo was already the most empathetic in the group- Mikey was probably even more so- would he be able to do anything of use, or would it just be a waste of time?

But they had nothing to lose at this point, and besides, he seemed so confident- it wasn’t like Raph was going to argue if he wanted to take care of this one conversation- plus, it would give him time to work on an  _ actual  _ plan to get the information out.

“Sure, go for it."

“Yessir,” Mikey saluted, walking up to where the man was sitting, standing firmly in front of him. Raph was admittedly impressed by the confidence Mikey was showing, considering how young and innocent this version of his brother seemed, he was really working hard to play his part, even though he was probably scared from being in a new dimension, and-

_ “LISTEN HERE YOU DUNDERHEAD, YOU’RE GOING TO GIVE ME THE KEY, OR I’LL MELT YOU DOWN AND CARVE YOUR BONES INTO A KEY MYSELF, YOU HEAR ME?” _

What the fuck.

Wasn’t he supposed to be the intimidating one? The one that people were afraid to mess with? So why was it that he was suddenly more afraid of this short orange-clad turtle than of anything he had ever faced?

Because Mikey had known all along. He had known that he had the power to take Raphael down. His brothers had seemed so protective of their Mikey, but in reality, were they just holding him back? Was… was his own Mikey hiding another side of himself that mirrored this one? Was his younger brother- his chill, emotional, loveable little brother- was he like this deep down as well?

“RAPH!”

Raph snapped back to attention, resisting the urge to jump when he realized that the small turtle was now standing in front of him, key in hand.

“I got it!” he said cheerfully, acting as if the last minute never happened. “We can go now, right?” 

Swallowing his fear back, Raph found he could only nod in reply, staying silent as he followed Mikey to the safe and opened it, grabbing the tech that the Donnie's had requested.

He was silent as Mikey proudly showed him the part, and as they left the building, crossing over to where Leonardo and Raph were waiting. He stayed like that even as they walked home, and even as Leonardo asked him if he was ok, because honestly? He wasn't sure if he  _ was _ ok. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof I hope this chapter wasn't disappointing, but y'know what? I had a ton of fun writing it!! (except the Stockman part R.I.P idk how to write any villains, specifically Stockman, I just needed him cuz he's just the tech guy W H Y, he could've escaped so easily KILL ME)
> 
> Anywaysss!! This is the main reason why I wrote this fic cuz it seemed like a lot of people on tumblr liked this idea and I was dying to have a go at writing a crossover for two of my favorite series!!
> 
> I hope y'all enjoyed it, and I'll see you all next week!!
> 
> (dksjdksjdkjsh I can only imagine 2012!Raph w/ that John Mulaney sketch abt 13 y/o's after this)


	9. Chapter 9

Leo drummed his fingers against the floor as he listened to the others planning for their night. Honestly, it sounded really boring.

Making plans was overrated- it was far easier to try and predict how everyone else was going to react to a situation and adapt for that, plus he already knew his brothers would be able to handle the situation- so why make it more complicated than it needed to be? Though if he was the leader, he figured that he'd have to let everyone else in on the plan too.

Sighing, he rolled to his back and stared up at the ceiling of the dojo. He didn't want to interrupt the planning for tonight, and Donnie was currently with Donatello, so that left him and April in the Dojo, debating life's biggest questions, like why was everything so goddamn boring?

"What do you think the grass is like here?" Leo pondered aloud, looking over at April who was lying beside him, equally bored. 

"I dunno. Like normal grass?" she replied in her  _ 'no duh' _ voice.

"Yeah, but like... what if it's different? Is there even grass in this dimension?"

"Leo, don't be ridiculous- of course there is."

"Did you see it?"

"Yes, and it was normal."

"But did you, like, touch it?"

"I don't know why I would."

"So you don't know if it's normal or not," he stated pointedly.

"Leo," April said calmly. "I'm already close to losing my sanity, and this is the conversation you choose to have with me?"

"Yeah, it is kinda weird dude," a third voice joined in, starling Leo and April.

"Michelangelo? How long have you been there?" Leo asked, staring up at the other turtle who was sitting in the tree.

"I dunno," he shrugged. "I came in awhile ago but you guys seemed tired, so I was trying to be quiet- but since you're awake, wanna play some games with me?"

"Eh, sure," Leo agreed, pushing himself off the ground. "Whatcha got?"

"Well, we got a ton of board games! Though some pieces are missing but they're still playable, and we have a few video games, but since they're using the main room to plan we just gotta wait until they're on their mission tonight."

"Oh right, the mission..." Leo said aloud, the gears in his mind turning. "When both Raph and Leonardo will be gone, aka all of the reasonable people..."

"I'd like to take offense to that," April crossed her arms. "But I also know it's true."

"Right- so what do you say you take us on a harmless, totally safe tour of your New York?" Leo suggested, hopping up beside the other turtle, and draping his arm around his carapace.

"Is this... a test?" The orange turtle asked skeptically. "You're just testing me, right?"

"What? Nah, I just wanna see the city! Why should they have all the fun on the mission while we're stuck inside? Besides, we need to take the Donnie's out for a walk, otherwise, they'll probably take over the world."

"Well... I'm sure Master Splinter probably could use a break from all the noise," Michelangelo considered. "And we go on patrol every night! It'd basically be the same thing!"

"True, yes, nightly patrols are definitely something we do too- so how bout it 'Angelo?"

"Yeah, let's go! I'll just go make sure Leonardo's ok with it first."

"Aw come on! I'm just as responsible as him, right? Doesn't my word mean anything?"

"Of course it does! Sorta... I'm just going to make sure it's ok with him," Michelangelo said sheepishly, stepping out of the Dojo.

"Ouch, that didn't hurt," Leo mumbled.

"Well can you blame him? Leonardo is their leader."

"Yeah, but... everyone's treating him like he's important or something just because he's all serious and has the title of 'leader'... and I haven't even done anything to make them doubt me yet!"

"Yet?"

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," he brushed off, ignoring April's comment. 

"Leo, don't-" 

"Hey guys!" Michelangelo came back inside, thankfully stopping April from probably making him confront his feelings. "Leonardo and Raph said it was fine, so you guys will be getting the New York specialty tour by yours truly- all the best pizza stops included!"

"Ay great job man!" Leo congratulated, patting him on the shell. "Now what about those board games you mentioned earlier- still wanna play?"

Was he avoiding talking to April until she forgot about what he said? Oh yeah, definitely. And he was totally gonna keep avoiding it for as long as he could- April might be persistent, but he could easily talk himself out of this- he was the face man after all, what good would he be if he couldn't even talk his way out of uncomfortable conversations?

Stupid feelings always coming out randomly.

* * *

* * *

* * *

"Who's ready for an awesome night out on the town?" Leo cheered, walking into Donatello's lab with Michelangelo and April right behind him.

"Did they already leave for the mission?" Donatello asked, looking up from his work. "That was fast- I thought they were leaving when it got dark?"

"It is dark- it's like eight," Leo glanced down at his phone.

"Oh... well in that case, maybe you guys should go without us- we're pretty busy here."

"I kinda wanted to see the differences between our two worlds..." Donnie said to the clear surprise of the other.

"Well, that's ok I guess... I'll just stay here and work alone."

"Aw, come on Donnie," Michelangelo begged, putting his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I wanna spend time with you! Plus you're our only impulse control!"

"Fine, I'll come" Donatello relented, getting up from his chair before casting a glance at his counterpart. "Donnie, don't you want to leave your shell-helper here? It might get damaged."

"It's fine," Donnie assured, avoiding the  _ 'what the hell'  _ vibes Leo was pretty sure he was sending his way.

"Well let's get going then!" Leo encouraged, ushering the two purple-clad turtles out of the room before letting Donatello and Michelangelo lead the way out into the sewer tunnels.

Slowing down, he kept pace with his twin.

"So I take it things are going well with the other you?" he asked casually.

"Of course- it is truly is an honor to finally work with someone who matches my genius."

"Yeah, I bet," he rolled his eyes. "And what was with him trying to get you to take off your battleshell?"

"He just appreciates delicate tech- he was only being considerate."

"Delicate tech? So he doesn't know that it's strong enough to defend your shell then?"

"Give me a rest Nardo, it's not like it's important."

"Seriously Don?"

"And what about you and your counterpart?" Donnie deflected, obviously not wanting to expand on the topic.

"We haven't talked much," he shrugged. "I don't know if he even wants to talk to me, I mean-" he stopped himself short. There he went again, being stupid. "He's so serious, right?"

Donnie frowned. "Leo is everything-"

"We're here!" Michelangelo announced, gesturing to the ladder that led out of the sewers. "Guests first."

"Thanks, man!" Leo said, stepping up first. Damn, he was losing it- it was best to just get out of there as soon as possible.

He pushed off the manhole cover, looking out into the alleyway to make sure it was clear before pushing himself out of the hole and onto the pavement, met with the familiar sounds of a lively city, though everything seemed almost muted, kinda like a Batman film.

Moving to the shadows, he watched as the others came up, noticing for the first time that April and Donnie seemed darker too- he had just assumed it was the lighting in the sewer, but their colouring seemed to blend with the rest of the world. With a slight pang, he wondered if his stripes looked darker too.

"Alright," Michelangelo brushed his hands off after he placed the cover back on the hole. "Let's head up to the rooftops and get this party started!"

"Sounds good to me!" Leo said excitedly, following closely behind Michelangelo. As long as he stayed close to Mikey, Donnie and April wouldn't be able to grill him.

So that's what he did.

Michelangelo ran along the rooftops, pointing out different buildings and places where they had previously battled. He was leading them around a corner when a certain building caught Leo's eye, forcing him to a screeching halt.

"Hold up- what's that building over there?" he asked, pointing in the distance as Michelangelo, April and Donnie huddled around him to see where he was pointing.

"Oh that," Michelangelo shrugged. "It's just a thrift store, not really-"

"THRIFT STORE!" Leo, Donnie, and April all shouted excitedly, startling Michelangelo and Donatello.

"It's a thrift store?" Leo asked again. "Is it still open?"

"Yes...?" Donatello finally answered nervously. "And why exactly are you excited about it?"

"Dude, seriously?" Leo asked, leaning on his shell. "Thrift stores are the best- all kinds of weird people shop there, not to mention it's practically empty around this time- we can go in there, no problem."

"And, sidebar," Donnie added, sliding to the other side of Donatello. "If we get clothes, it's a lot easier to blend in on the street."

"That way we get a closer look at your New York!" April finished excitedly.

"We do it all the time back home," Donnie said flippantly.

"Plus, it's perfect for an 80s makeover montage!" Leo added.

"I... Don't think this is a good idea," Donatello stopped.

"Awww, come on Dee, it'll be so much fun!" Leo promised.

"Yeah! Please?" Michelangelo pleaded, looking up at his older brother, who relented with a sigh.

"Ok, fine," he relented to a chorus of cheers. "But only if April makes sure it's safe first."

"Of course! I'll be right back," she promised, running towards the fire escape.

"You guys are actually serious about doing this," Donatello stated blankly.

"Of course we are! Have you guys seriously never gone before?"

"No, but I wish we had!" Michelangelo said excitedly as Donnie's phone buzzed.

"That's our queue maidens," Donnie said with a sweeping bow. "April says the store awaits."

* * *

* * *

* * *

"I dunno," Leo tilted his head. "That outfit suits you, but do you vibe with it enough?"

"It's about the vibes," Donnie nodded seriously as Donatello stood tiredly in front of them, being the last one to pick out an outfit, and whose fate was now being decided by the twins.

"Do I seriously need to do this?" he asked tiredly.

"Yes," they all replied in unison. 

"Bro, just think about it!" Michelangelo said, throwing his arm around the much taller turtle. "April might even like your outfit."

"I"m sorry, what?"

"Not you April, our April. Donnie kinda has a thing for her-"

_ "Mikey!" _

"What? It's the truth! Don't hide your feelings man!"

Leo glanced at April and Donnie. "You guys... aren't keeping something from me, right? I mean, you're not-"

"No," Donnie said hurriedly. "Oh god no, please."

"Thank goodness," April sighed. "Definitely not."

"Just checking."

"Can we go now that I'm thoroughly embarrassed?" Donatello pleaded.

"Do you like your outfit? Like truly actually like it?" Leo asked to which the other turtle looked down for a second and nodded. "Then yes, we may leave."

Now that they were done with their side mission, they were back to their real mission- exploring New York City.

While everything was somewhat familiar, there was still a new edge to it that made it exciting to explore... that is until they ended up far from where they started, and dead on their feet from a night of walking.

That's when they had the oh-so brilliant idea of using the subway, which, neither Donatello nor Michelangelo had used before.

Which is how they ended up staring at the large map in the station, trying to figure out where they were.

"Guys, I'm so sorry, I never used the subway before, I have no clue where we are," Michelangelo stated as they stared over the map.

"No probles, we just need to figure out where..." Donnie trailed off, looking at the map. "Hold up, we're on Broadway?"

"Oh no..." Leo murmured.

_ "OK WE ARE GOING TO CHECK IT OUT,"  _ he announced, walking towards the exit.

"Wait, what?" Michelangelo asked as Leo and April held Donnie back.

"Dee, we have Broadway back home!"

"Yeah!" April chimed in. "I'll take you Hadestown first thing when we get home, ok?"

"You're into theatre?" Donatello asked. "Like Tuck Everlasting and stuff?"

_ "YOU KNOW WHAT TUCK EVERLASTING IS?" _

"Well, there are signs for it everywhere, so-"

_ "YOU MEAN IT'S STILL PLAYING?" _

"Why... why did he have to say that?" April quietly begged as Leo pat her shoulder.

"What other prematurely cancelled shows are still playing? Amélie? Be More Chill? The Bandstand?  _ WE MUST GO!" _

"No... I'm so tired," Leo sighed.

"Why don't you guys go back?" Michelangelo offered. "I'll stay with Donnie."

"Are you sure you can make it back ok?" Donatello asked skeptically. 

"Dude, you look dead tired, go get some sleep, and we'll be back before you know it!"

"I'll stay with them," April offered. "I'm pretty curious about it myself."

"Alright, then it's just you and me, is that ok Leo?"

"Hey, as long as I get to sleep, I'm happy," Leo shrugged.

"Ok, see you guys back at the lair then," Donatello waved, heading off towards the tracks. 

"Stay safe," Leo reminded, following Donatello to the subway, waiting in the fluorescently-lit platform that only seemed to make their eyes heavier, until the train finally came in, blowing past them in a strong wind before speeding to a stop and allowing them to board, before speeding off into the tunnels again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a hard time writing Leo...
> 
> sorry this chapter is super jumpy btw, it feels inconsistent, but it'll probably be the only one like that- I'm not doing so great this week so I'm a little off my game, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!!
> 
> Thanks so much for all your support!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is this chapter 4000 words long??? 
> 
> I couldn't manage to cut it in half without it sounding awkward and it was all from Donnie's POV so it didn't make sense. 
> 
> pls ignore that it doesn't fit with the other chapter lengths

Donnie had been to broadway before, obviously, but there was a certain charm about it that always left him breathless, especially when it was full of old shows which were prematurely closed that he hadn't been able to see.

It was glorious.

Most were in their second act by now, allowing them to walk along the streets without having to worry about the large crowds that would overtake the streets soon enough. 

"You know we can't go in, right?" Michelangelo asked as Donnie stopped to take another picture, this time of a 'Next to Normal' display. "The shows are almost over- I mean, maybe we could sneak into one, but I dunno how many we'll get to."

"Alas, I know this already," Donnie sighed, dropping his head as he rested his hand longingly on the poster. "And trust me- sneaking into a show once it's already started is major disrespect- I would never- but, I wasn't able to collect a majority of these Playbills, and some people tend to throw them out after the show,  _ for reasons I will never understand _ , but I simply want to collect a few before we go home."

"Oh," Michelangelo brightened. "That seems doable then!"

"Alright- here's the plan then- Mikey, you go on the other side of the street and find what you can, April-"

"Don't worry Dee, I already know which ones you want. I mean, I practically spend every other week hearing you talk about them..."

"Great. Then I'll go down a bit further and cover the theatres there, and we'll meet up forty-five after the first show gets out, which should be 'Come From Away' in about fifteen minutes."

"You're... really into this," Michelangelo pointed out. "Is he always like this?"

"You get used to it," April shrugged in reply. "I'd blame Splinter- I think it runs in the family."

And once again, Donnie was glad that he recorded everything- purely for the expression on Michelangelo's face after April said that.

"I'm not even sure what that means," Michelangelo finally replied. "Is Master Splinter... like, an  _ actor  _ or something in your dimension?" he laughed at the thought.

"Yes," Donnie agreed impatiently. "Now, I'm getting in position- I'll see you in half an hour."

"Yep, later!" April waved, heading down the street as Donnie left the other way. He glanced back one final time to see Michelangelo still standing there, looking broken at the thought of his father being an actor.

He should probably address the whole Splinter-thing, but honestly, he didn't feel like talking about it any further. Admittedly, it was weird for him every time he saw the Splinter of this dimension... and off the record, he was starting to miss his dad.

_ Pfft. _ It was stupid. Besides, they would all be home soon enough, so he just relaxed on his chosen roof, and checked the time before sitting back to wait, enjoying the noise of the busy streets below when it was suddenly interrupted.

"Donnie!" Michelangelo called, running up beside him, pausing for a moment to catch his breath.

"What's wrong? We should have another five minutes before-"

"Donnie, dude- I just spotted the Purple Dragons nearby!"

"I'm sorry, the Purple Dragons?" Donnie asked, feeling his skin crawl at the mention of those jerks, but Michelangelo just nodded seriously. _ "Sigh.  _ I should've known by their glorious purple jackets that they had good taste- of course, they're on Broadway!"

"What? They have purple jackets in your dimension?"

"Not important- let's go," he agreed, nodding at Mikey to lead the way.  _ Of course, _ it had been the Purple Dragons, probably one of the most annoying groups of stylish villains that he would gladly throw arms with, even at the cost of securing precious Playbills.

But it would be worth the sacrifice. They ruined every good thing they ever touched.

A perfectly amazing video game? Yep. An absolutely beautiful jacket? Of course. Shelldon's well-being? Well, they had crossed a line there.

Who knew what despicable acts these guys had done to his counterpart? It was his job- nay,  _ his duty- _ to revenge Donatello for whatever they had done to him.

Donnie came to an abrupt stop behind Mikey, looking over his shoulder at where three cliche-looking suspicious vans were parked. 

"They have their driver's license?" Donnie questioned.

"I dunno- probably, but they're villains, right? So who knows. There's kind of a lot of them though," Mickey said nervously, looking back at Donnie. "We should probably call Leonardo or something, right? Do you think they're done with their mission yet? Or maybe Donatello and Leo can come back?"

"Please, there's only three," he reasoned. 

Plus, with each of them in their own truck, it would be easier to take them down- they had probably just finished hauling their things for the night- and judging by the fact that they were in separate cars, they had probably gotten a huge steal. 

And it would've been easy too if they hadn't all driven off at that very moment.

"Follow them!" Donnie instructed, taking off after the vans.

"What about April?" Michelangelo asked as he followed after Donnie.

"I'll text her," he promised, though he didn't see the harm in waiting a few extra minutes before he did... hey, if she could snag some Playbills for him first, would that really be so bad?

They followed the van rigorously, choosing to ignore how long they'd been doing it. It wasn't until the vans finally stopped that Donnie looked around to see that they had travelled to the Lower East Side. 

He quickly sent April their location being joining Michelangelo at the edge of the roof where he was watching the vans. The streets were relatively quiet as they watched the Purple Dragons get out of the vans... They were no high schoolers.

"Who are those guys?" he asked, his voice sounding as hollow as he felt while they watched the grown adults unload the presumably stolen cargo.

"I already told you- they're the Purple Dragons- y' know, they help out the Shredder sometimes?"

"The Shredder?" Donnie asked, shifting his weight to lean against the side of the building. He was just totally chill, everything was fine.

"Yeah..." Michelangelo frown as he looked at him. "Dude you ok? We should call the others to help us out, right?"

It was a good idea to call the others for backup, but... The Purple Dragons were his thing. And maybe it was selfish, but he had always been the one to defeat them- so what made this dimension any different? He could hold up to these guys, just like he was sure the other Donatello could, just like  _ he did _ back home.

it didn't matter that in this dimension he wasn't a softshell, or that they seemed to rely on Donatello's tech more than anything mystic here. He could handle himself just as well as his counterpart- he was just as useful as his counterpart- especially when facing his sworn enemies.

"We can handle it," he assured Michelangelo as they watched the Dragons enter the old abandoned building...

"That place looks kinda spooky," Michelangelo commented.

"It's the Loew’s Canal St. Theatre- it's been abandoned for years, and is highly unstable. Whatever they have going on in there, it can't be good."

"So, we should avoid going in there at all costs?" Michelangelo guessed, finishing what he assumed Donnie was thinking.

_ "Please- _ these guys look like basic street thugs- they probably don't have the same complexity of the Purple Dragons in my dimension. We can do this."

"But dude, it's a creepy theatre! There's probably ghosts!"

"Well, if it's of any comfort to you, there's probably a ghost light somewhere inside," Donnie stood up, preparing to leave. "Come on, let's put an end to their evil-doing."

"If you say so."

Donnie led the way into the theatre.

The main lobby was empty of humans, but if ghosts were ever going to be a thing that he saw, Donnie was pretty confident this would be a good place.

Spiderwebs combed the surfaces and walls, and the air was musty, littered with dust as voices flowed out from the auditorium. 

Donnie's arm was suddenly gripped by Michelangelo- and if he hadn't already been expecting that based on his experience with his own Mikey, he probably would've been terrified by the sudden grip.

"Do you think those voices are... ghosts?"

"It's the Purple Dragons," he reminded flatly. "The people we followed in here."

"Pfft, I know, I was only joking."

Or so he said, but his hand was still gripped on Donnie's arm. 

Donnie walked over to the doors, dragging the other turtle along, and looked through carefully. Presumably, the box on centre stage was what they had just unloaded, stolen, or retrieved illegally no doubt- but either way, they didn't deserve to have it.

"Any ideas?" he looked back at Michelangelo in question.

_ "Me? _ You want to hear  _ my _ ideas?"

"You  _ are _ the one from this dimension."

"Yeah but... I'm not the idea guy."

"Alright. Well, I'm assuming whatever's in the boxes is our target. There's no easy way around it- they'll see us no matter what. I say we go with a distraction- it'll get several of them away from the target, and that'll leave us with fewer people to fight."

Donnie glanced around, hoping to see something. Perhaps backstage they would be luckier. Or...

"I'm sure some of the old effects work. The lights, even. At least I could get them to work for a limited amount of time, while you go in and retrieve the boxes."

"Um, I'm not sure splitting up is such a good idea- in horror movies that's how it always starts!" Michelangelo countered. "Plus, the funny guy always goes first- I'd be dead meat man-  _ dead meat!" _

"Ignoring the fact that I'm the funny one and would therefore get killed first, I suppose we can find another way. Facing them head-on would probably be the second easiest way if you're up for it..."

"Definitely!"

"I guess having no plan usually works out for us... fine- the first one to get closest to the boxes retrieves them while the other covers for them."

"Sound good to me!"

"Then, if they're going to see us anyway, what do you say about having a dramatic entrance (but not too dramatic as to cause the building structural damages)?"

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but hell yeah!"

Donnie smirked. And Raph had questioned him about removing the hammer mode in his tech bo to make room for the confetti machine.

"Will you do us the honors of kicking down the door?" Donnie asked with a sweeping bow.

No words were spoken by Michelangelo, but his shining eyes and quiet squeal said it all.

_ "PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR BUTTS KICKED!" _ Michelangelo shouted as the door fell down, all eyes on them as a burst of confetti accompanied their entrance, along with the subtle addition of some lights. Y'know, just the basic stuff that he could fit into his tech bo, nothing  _ too  _ extravagant.

"Nice work Angelo. Now first one to the box wins!" he reminded, jumping onto action, the other turtle quick to follow.

The Purple Dragons seemed slightly off-put by their entrance, but they quickly got the memo and fought to protect their precious cargo.

Admittedly, he had to give the thugs credit- they were easy to take down, and their fighting wasn't anything to write home about- but they were tough, and high in numbers. 

Perhaps his plan had been a bit brash, but they still weren't nearly as smart as the Dragon's in his dimension, and they were beginning to thin out. If Michelangelo was able to grab the box, they could easily get out of here.

Hearing bangs or crashes during a fight was normal, and usually wasn't too concerning. More often than not, it was one of his brother's pulling off an impressive stunt of some kind.

When you were in an unstable building, however, that sound tended to cause panic. Donnie had early memories of before they lived in the sewers and when they had stayed in an abandoned building instead- an unstable one. 

He remembered Splinter warning them about what noises to listen for in case something happened while he was out looking for food- and Donnie remembered the noise of when it had happened very clearly- and this sound? That's what it was.

Sparing a glance to where the noise was, he caught sight of one of the balconies along the side that a thug had just been shoved into by Michelangelo. Thankfully, the turtle would be out of range for the crash. 

The thug he was fighting though? No such luck. And the chance of him making it out of there alive wasn't looking high either.

Before he could make a move, Michelangelo threw himself towards the human. His shell would definitely shield the human, but was it enough to save him too?

Donnie couldn't leave that chance to fate, so he threw his tech bo, activating the claw mode as he threw it towards Michelangelo, allowing him one sweet moment of relief as it caught the crumbling wall, allowing the turtle enough time to safely crawl out.

Unfortunately, the moment of relief was brief, and as expected, the thugs Donnie was fighting took advantage of his moment of negligence towards them, and the next thing he knew, his world went black.

* * *

* * *

* * *

He awoke to a sharp throbbing in his head- and opening his eyes definitely didn't ease the pain, nor did the sight of the cage he was now in result in a very welcoming waking.

Pushing himself to sit in an upright position, he immediately regretted that decision, as his head rang annoyingly, and black spots danced in his eyes.

"Dude, Donnie, thank goodness," Michelangelo said, grabbing his shoulders to steady him. "I was so worried. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," he brushed off Mikey's hands, only to immediately regret it as he began swaying. "I'm assuming we got captured," he noted, glancing at the metal cage that was obscuring their surroundings, if only slightly. 

They had been taken somewhere else in the theatre during the time he had been knocked out, though they were left alone in the room. 

It was dark, with only one flickering light. He figured there were probably guards outside the door, but apparently, they hadn't been of enough concern to have a guard inside the room.

Thankfully from the familiar weight on his back, he could tell that they had overlooked taking his battleshell off, calming at least one of his concerns.

"I'm sorry Donnie... You went down, then I just," he bit his lip, looking away. "You're plan would've worked if I hadn't ruined it for you."

"No I- it wasn't your fault. I was over-zealous. I should've just listened to you and called the others for backup."

"Are you kidding? You're awesome dude! You could've taken them all down if it weren't for me... Donatello could've too- he's always trying to make up for what I'm lacking- you're the real A-team Donnie. without you, we'd be lost..."

Donnie stared blankly at him for a moment, unsure. His head was still buzzing and he knew he could probably manage to unlock the door if only he could manage to stand.

Michelangelo apparently caught on to his thoughts and grabbed his shoulder. "Just give yourself a few minutes to sit down dude, you fell pretty hard, thanks to me."

"Mikey, it wasn't your fault. you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Sorry, I'm pretty much always in the wrong place," he laughed sheepishly. "I'm kinda useless that way... and in a lot of other ways too, amiright?"

The way Michelangelo was acting... it seemed like it was all a joke, yet none of the words were funny. It was self-deprecating humour, he realized, only it wasn't funny- not when there was clearly pain behind the words.

"You're not useless," he assured, though his voice sounded somewhat harsh, so he attempted to soften it before speaking again. "No one thinks that you're useless, especially not your brothers."

"Yes, they do... and they're right. Maybe I don't like fighting as much as they do, but I just don't wanna see people keep getting hurt! Not even the bad guys, and especially not my bros! One time Leo got hit..." Mikey looked away, shuddering. "Sometimes even _ I _ thought he wouldn't make it," he admitted quietly.

"Mikey... You saved a  _ life  _ today, that human would've died without you. And your family needs you- you're their emotional backbone- without you, they would shatter."

"My emotions are what make me too soft! My shell might as well be as soft as my emotions for what it's worth," he stated miserably, resting his head on his knees, ignoring Donnie.

So maybe that comment had felt like a slap in the face. Maybe if it was anyone else he might've been offended, but as he watched Mikey sitting in the corner, obviously lacking confidence, he only saw someone he could relate to.

"Well... that's something we would have in common if that were the case," he said with an awkward laugh as he slid next to Michelangelo, who glanced at him in question.

Donnie rapped his battleshell with his hand pointedly. 

"I'm a softshell, that's why I have... this whole situation."

Michelangelo looked at Donnie in confusion, then to the shell on his back a few times before his eyes widened in realization. "Dude! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean- I didn't know-"

"It's fine," he brushed off, though admittedly the words had stung. "But I do understand where you're coming from. I'll always have something holding me back, something extra to worry about getting in the way."

"But... you have your metal shell thing- you fixed it- just like you fix  _ everything. _ I can't fix myself."

"I'm not fixed. My battleshells protect me but it's not the same, I made use of what holds me back, and even though it's still there, even though it'll always be apart of me, I figured out a way to use it. You're smart Mikey, and you have a stronger heart than anyone. I know you can and have used it to benefit you."

"I guess... I made friends with Leatherhead when no one else wanted to try," he admittedly quietly.

"See?" He nudged his alternate brother playfully. "It has its perks."

Suddenly, there were some banging sounds outside the door, before it got kicked down itself, to reveal April, bat in hand.

"Really? you're not even gonna try to escape?" She asked, rushing towards them.

"April! Thank goodness- did you manage to get any Playbill's?" Donnie asked seriously.

"Did you do this by yourself?" Michelangelo asked in awe.

"Yes, I got some Playbills, and no, I'm not an idiot, so I called the guys in for backup. They're still searching the theatre for you guys."

"Is the really big Raph here? I dunno if Donnie can walk."

"Yeah, I'll call him- are you ok Donnie?" She asked, kneeling outside the cage.

"I'm fine, it's just a bruise." He sent a glare towards the other turtle.  _ Damn it, _ why did Michelangelo have to consider his well-being? "I'd be a whole lot better if we were outside this cage, though."

"Right, sorry," April took out a key she had probably fought the guard for and unlocked it before dialing Raph, who they honestly didn't even need to call since he was now standing on his own perfectly fine, but soon enough Raph was there.

The others were waiting outside by the time they got there, with Mikey running over to hug Donnie as soon as they walked out, which he reluctantly accepted, along with his Bo staff, which Mikey had thankfully found and recovered. 

Apparently, the remaining Dragons had moved the boxes before the others could arrive, which meant it had been a failed mission- on their part, anyway- the others had succeeded.

They were all oddly quiet as they walked home, probably all equally tired. Leonardo and Raph graciously spared asking them any questions about what the hell had even happened to land them in an abandoned theatre.

By the time they reached the sewers, Donnie was able to safely walk on his own without assistance, so he hung at the back so he could go a little bit slower, with Michelangelo keeping him company.

"So... I kinda have a question..." Michelangelo said quietly.

"Yeah? Shoot."

"Why haven't you told my brothers about being a softshell and stuff? It's not a big deal, they wouldn't think less of you- you know that, right?"

_ "Exactly, _ it's not a big deal- that's why I'm not saying anything- no need to answer a question never asked, after all."

_ "Hmmm, _ didn't you just say that I'm good with emotions? Cuz then I'm pretty sure you're bluffing."

"I said you have a  _ good heart _ , not that you're a lie detector, and no, I'm not bluffing."

"You sure you don't wanna talk about it?"

"Definitely. Besides, we only needed that one part to fix the portal, and now that we have it, we'll be headed back home where everything is normal and chill,  _ please and thank you." _

"Aw, I kinda wish you guys were staying longer," Michelangelo sighed as they entered the lair.

"I know, I know, but alas, we must leave, for all good things must come to an end," he said dramatically as they walked into the lair, which was dark and abnormally quiet- even Donatello's room was dark. 

"Do you think they're asleep?" April asked.

"I doubt Donatello's asleep," Leonardo stated thoughtfully.

"Don't worry, he is," Leo called from the kitchen, stepping into the main room to join them. "You all came back together? Now I feel like we missed out on something."

"So did we if you got Donnie to sleep," Leonardo said with a laugh. "Either way, we should probably get that part he needed in the lair- who has it?"

"I do!" Mikey lifted the part proudly. "I can just go-"

"Let me- I know where to put it," Donnie stopped him.

Mikey handed it over without question and Donnie separated himself from the group, heading towards the lab.

This was the last part they needed- they would be home tomorrow. 

True to Leo's word, Donatello was sound asleep. Quietly, Donnie snuck in, and placed the part on the desk- part of him was itching to wake the other up and finish the portal so they could all go home that night.

But he knew better than anyone else that sleep was a rarity, and even if he could go home and rest, who knew what Donatello would be facing that week. He probably needed the sleep.

Just as he was turning to leave, his eyes landed on the retro-mutagen that was still in Donatello's lab, sitting peacefully on the desk.

That turtle was as attached to his lab as Donnie was to his, perhaps even more so, seeing as he actually slept there too, and with the portal almost done, and them going home soon...

There probably wouldn't be another chance to examine it close-up, and with all the chaos, it's not like Donatello would notice if it disappeared from his lab until after they were gone and safely home, right?

Quietly, he grabbed a vile, careful not to let his hands shake- admittedly Donatello had guts for even working so closely with something that could take away his life so easily. 

He handed it off to one of his extra arms in his battleshell, allowing it to carefully store the retro-mutagen where it wouldn't be touched or found.

Perhaps he should feel guilty about it, but he knew that if Donatello were in his place, he'd likely do the same, or at least understand his reasonings. 

So he ignored the fact that he was stealing hard work, and silently walked to the dojo, still trying to reason with himself that it was alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohohohoho- it seems like it’s ending, doesn’t it?? WELP I CURRENTLY HATE MYSELF CUZ THERE’S STILL OVER TEN CHAPTERS LEFT, EITHER PLANNED OUT, OR HALF-WRITTEN SO BUCKLE UP
> 
> Thank you again so much for all the support!! I've been awful at replying to comments cuz I'm really busy with irl stuff right now, but seriously thank you so much!!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note!
> 
> This chapter takes place in between the events of the last chapter (I think I might even split up the last chapter so I can fit this one in between).
> 
> Anywayssss- enjoy!

Their walk back to the lair was pretty quiet. 

Leo was exhausted from their long day, and though he was only guessing, he was pretty sure that Donatello hadn't gotten much sleep since they had arrived in this dimension- and considering that he hadn't said a word since they began their journey home- Leo was pretty confident his assumptions were correct.

That, or Donatello was just purposely ignoring him, despite him being from an alternate dimension with thousands of questions waiting to be asked... yeah, no, he was definitely tired.

As they walked through the tunnels, the musty smell of the water and slow drips coming from around them only served to make him more tired. Although he hadn't noticed it as much before, even the sewers here had their differences.

The quiet echoes of their footsteps seemed to be the only interesting thing to listen to, and he kinda wished Donatello would at least be interested in a half-hearted conversation with him.

"So," Leo started, walking up beside the other turtle. "If you guys were to-  _ hypothetically speaking _ \- compete in say, an incredibly complex and intense set of lair games where there can only be one winner, who would win out of the four of you?"

"What?" Donatello stared at him with such intense annoyance, that for a second, Leo was scared. Until he realized that it was Donnie's eternal mood to be annoyed.

"Like the Olympics! But a lot more intense."

" _ I don't know? _ Raph or something," he finally answered, though it was more like he was brushing off the question than actually giving it thought.

Eh, it was fine though. In all honestly, Leo wasn't exactly sure how to interact with this Donnie anyway. The two Donnie's seemed to get along just fine, but Donatello lacked the dramatic chaos that his own brother was well-known for.

This one seemed... kinda normal- As normal as a giant mutant turtle could be, that is. 

He also seemed like he was holding himself back- and as someone who knew that his own Donnie was holding back on like, 90% of what he could do,-otherwise the entire world would be destroyed by now- that was saying a lot.

"So, you like Space Heroes, right? Have you ever made any of the weapons from the show? I'd like to see you take on some mutant with one of those guns," he stated, pretending to aim with said imaginary gun.

"I'll stick to my staff thanks, it suits me well enough to get the job done."

_ Yeesh, _ Donatello seriously lacked conversation skills. That, or he just genuinely found Leo annoying.

Nah, it was probably just the first thing. 

They finally made it back to the mostly dark lair, save for the flickering of lights that came from behind the dojo screen, the candles in the room casting enough of a glow to be seen from the main room.

It was kinda nice to be back after all the bustle on the streets above- it may not be home, but it was sorta comforting in its own right.

“So it's just you and me here now, huh?” Leo asked as he glanced around- if the others had been back from their mission, there'd be 10x more noise.

Donatello nodded absently. “Master Splinter is here too,” he reminded, heading towards his room. “So if you need anything, just let one of us know."

“Right, will do…" He agreed as Donatello just  _ abandoned _ him. 

Pfft, it was Donatello's job to act like he wanted to be alone- but it was Leo's job to annoy his twin, so he followed him into his room- to which the other surprisingly didn't fight him on.

"Hm, cool lab," he complimented as he glanced around, though he left out the part that it was much smaller and less-cool than Donnie's. The size was slightly questionable considering Donnie regularly blew himself up, but seeing as Donatello was still alive, it must've been fine.

"Donnie showed me a picture of his lab," Donatello stated flatly, sitting down at his desk. "I know this isn't much."

And well, Leo couldn't exactly argue.

"Whatcha working on anyway? I thought you had to wait until the others got back to keep working,” he asked, peering over his shoulder.

“It’s a personal project,” he answered simply.

"Really? What does it do?  _ Wait wait wait _ \- don't tell me, I wanna guess."

"It's not like it's anything special-"

"Shutup, I wanna guess," he shushed him, closing his eyes in concentration. 

What would a tired Donnie make? It wouldn't be a stretch to say either a doomsday device or an invention that could automatically play battle music every time they began a fight, but for some reason, he couldn't see Donatello making either of those things.

He seemed too...  _ sane _ .

Nah, it would have to be toned down a bit.

Leo snapped his fingers and opened his eyes again. "I got it," he announced. "You're working on a signal enhancer for your wifi, right? Cuz it seriously sucks in this dimension, no offence."

"What? Why would I do anything so... useless?"

"Are you serious? It's the most useful thing around!"

"We already have functioning wifi though."

"Functioning doesn't mean that it's at a proper living standard though!  _ Ok ok, _ so not that... hm, what about a lava-lamp, that-  _ get this _ \- can actually turn things into lava!"

Donatello stared at him incredulously. "And why would I ever want to build that?"

"Cuz it's fun? I dunno man, don't you like building stuff?"

"It's a necessity, my duty in the team."

"Yeah but... that's not the only reason why you do it, right?"

Donatello looked away, his eyes glossing over the various inventions in his lab, before finally landing on Leo once again, with a sort of emptiness that Leo only saw when Donnie had been awake for 5 days straight, and running on nothing but caffeine and spite.

"Does it matter? Either way, they need my inventions. How would you feel if Donnie stopped inventing one day?"

"Incredibly confused," Leo admitted. "And probably concerned. But if you aren't enjoying it anymore, then you should just tell your family- it's not like they can force you to keep working, right?"

"They aren't forcing me," he insisted. "I do like inventing, I think."

"You  _ think?" _

"I don't know. It doesn't matter anyway-"

"Course' it matters."

Donatello sighed, turning back to his desk, and more noticeably, ignoring Leo.

"Look, I need to do this either way, so let me know if you need me- otherwise, I'll be working."

Right. He was getting kicked out. 

Donatello was much more subtle about it than Donnie, what without the 17 Roombas shooting at him to leave, but he wasn't about to take  _ 'go away _ ' for an answer, no sir.

It was time to put to use all his years of annoying his twin.

“Yeah, that’s great," he agreed, leaning on the desk and pointedly not leaving. "But didn’t you stay here so you could get some good ‘ole R&R?”

Donatello frowned. “Look, I know what they said, but they don’t know how much work I put into my other stuff. We need this next batch of retro-mutagen, so I need to keep working.”

Leo stood beside him a moment longer, internally battling with his options before sighing and stepping back, taking a seat on his bed instead.

“Do your brothers know about this?” he finally asked.

“Of course they know. They’re the ones that depend on me for it, who ask me to do it.”

“That’s not what I meant. I mean, do they know you’re overworking yourself?”

“I’m not ‘overworked,’” Donatello scoffed. “I’m doing what needs to be done.”

“Yeah, sure. Because I’m sure your brothers would totally be fine with it if they found out that whenever they told you to rest, you just used that time to work instead.”

“That’s because they don’t know how much time-”

“Then tell them,” Leo begged. “Come on, how are they supposed to know if they think you’re actually getting some rest? You can’t just keep working and working and saying that you’re ‘fine!' Haven't you stopped to consider that  _ this _ is why you aren't enjoying inventing?"

“I didn’t ask you for advice,” Donatello scowled. “So if you don’t need my help with something, then why don’t you just go bother Master Splinter?”

“Fine, I’ll just go tell him that you’re overworking yourself instead,” Leo agreed, heading towards the exit.

“Wait,” Donatello stopped. “Don’t tell him, please.”

“Then just get some rest,” he countered, earning him a sigh from Donatello.

“Look, I’ll admit it, I'm not as good at fighting as Raphael or Leonardo, and Michelangelo is unpredictable with his fighting, which makes him valuable too- what I’m trying to say is, my tech is the way I pull my weight on the team- and they need me for it! I mean, with all the retro-mutagen, Kraang tech, and just general tech like our T-phones… it’s how I’m important to the team, ok?”

Leo stared at Donatello for a moment, seeing the similarities with his own brother despite how different they looked and acted. 

“Are you stupid?” he finally asked, leaving Donatello gaping at his reply. “No, seriously,” Leo continued, not bothering to wait for an answer. “Cuz’ if you think that your brothers only care about you because of your tech, you are stupid.”

“I didn’t say that, I just meant-”

“I heard what you said, and you’re right, your brothers need you, and they sure as hell need your abilities. But even if you weren’t all tech-y, they’d still need you, with or without your capabilities.”

“And I’ll still be there for them,” he answered firmly.

“No, you won’t. You probably already aren’t spending that much time with them anymore, right?”

“So what, I can’t have alone time?”

“It’s not alone time if you’re just closing yourself off,” he stated. “ _ Augh _ , I swear Donnie, you need to  _ talk to us- _ ” he stopped suddenly. “I mean,  _ you  _ need to talk to  _ your _ brothers- I mean…” Leo flopped on his shell on Donetello’s bed with a frustrated sigh, allowing the room to lapse into an uneasy silence as the purple-clad turtle stared at Leo’s defeated form as he stayed face-down on the bed.

“I-” Donatello began in defence before stopping for a moment. “I’ll tell them,” he finally agreed quietly, causing Leo to look up hopefully at him. 

“Really? You will?”

“Yeah,” Donatello nodded. “I… didn’t think… I never thought that  _ they _ might be affected by me,” he admitted quietly.

“They want what’s best for you… but they also probably miss spending time with you too.” Leo pointed out. “Why else do you think they tell you to rest?” 

“Hah, true,” he agreed weakly as Leo rolled off his bed and gestured to the mattress, which Donatello went and laid down on without any argument.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Leo offered, pausing in the doorway briefly.

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that to you? It’s my home, after all.”

Leo shrugged. “Just let me know,” he repeated before leaving Donatello alone and heading to the living room, collapsing on the couch and flipping the TV on.

Hey, they'd be going home soon, and there was a whole ass space show that he needed to fully watch before they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to update- my anxiety has been absolute shit recently to the point where even just going on social media makes me feel sick (agh and I accidentally ghosted my friends and feel terrible abt it oof).
> 
> But! Writing can actually help sometimes, and this idea kinda just comforted me.
> 
> And no worries! I totally plan on finishing this fic- in fact, I finished plotting it out! I’ll try to update weekly, but I can’t really promise anything- thank you for your patience!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!! <3


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